Vampire Body, Human Souls
by Sapphos-Daughter
Summary: In war, there are some who will be caught in the crossfire. As an older brother, how far will you go to protect the one that loves you the most? How far will your little sister go to give you back the humanity that was stolen from you during the battle?
1. A heart in toment behind cat eyes

Author's note: We (my partner and I) are very sorry for the inconvenience that this may cause our fans, but Inu-midroiko and I both decided that this piece was in a desperate need of a rewrite since she joined up late in the creation of this fanfic. The original wasn't very good, so I'm hoping that this version will be looked at as a vast improvement. I own Galen, Nadia, and the plot. The rest belongs to the original creators. Please enjoy the read and tell us what you think of the changes that we have made!

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'How did we come to this?' Galen wondered, walking around the pitch-black streets of the city. The thirst was raging inside him, but he ignored it for the moment. He knew he had to get back soon, who knew what Nadia was getting herself into while he was out…

A wave of dizziness swamped him, and he leaned against a nearby wall, grateful that his sunglasses hid the glaze in his cat-like emerald eyes.

'Damnit, I'm not gonna make it back in time…' Came the revolting thought, and a bitterness that had nothing to do with the thirst swept over him.

Though Galen knew he had no choice, this didn't make it any easier. Still, he knew that it was either feed or risk hurting his beloved twin sister.

Shaking his head sharply he told himself that that wasn't even to be considered! To avoid being violently ill, the vampire found himself violently swearing in the depths of his soul that he would rather starve and die of the thirst than harm a single red-gold hair on his sweet sister's head.

With a sigh of regret for what he knew was about to happen, Galen checked his pocket for the small bottle of antidote he always kept there in case of an emergency. Nadia kept a supply of it for him. He never asked where she got it from; having the feeling that if he had ever asked her about it that he wouldn't like the answer.

Gods above and below, he hated this…

A few minutes later Galen administered the antidote to the poor man he had just bitten, hoping with detached despair that he hadn't taken too blood, having tried to take just enough to get him through the trip back. He was comforted by the knowledge that this man would remain a human who was unaffected by the vampire virus. Feeling the blood still on his lips, Galen quickly wiped it off with a vicious distasteful gesture of his hand.

Sick at heart, he stood and started back to Vamp Tower, as his twin called it. A bitter smile twisted his lips as he mentally agreed with her. Galen had always admired his twin sister's way with words. He knew that he was brewing himself into a truly black humor, but Galen knew that avoiding his twin would only make it worse, and upset her in the process.

Ten minutes later, Galen's bad mood soured even more when he got back to the shielded glass building only to find Danica waiting for him.

"Where's Nadia?" He snapped, putting a bored expression on his face. In his bad mood, Galen didn't feel like messing around with this demented bitch.

"In the library, where else would that cross of a bookworm and a mole be?" Danica replied with a bored provocative stretch, hoping to distract Galen into forgetting about his twin.

Having gotten an answer, Galen walked away, ignoring Danica's shrill shouts of growing anger. Striding towards the elevator, he smirked as he pressed the button he wanted. Trust Nadia to hide in a place full of books.

The room was well lit; books of every seemed to be everywhere he could see. To him, the room smelled of aging paper and ink. As usual, the library was complete deserted of people. Most people either weren't interested in books or had their own copies. Making his way to the back of the room, Galen finally took off the sunglasses and felt a genuine smile of relief spread across his face to see his copper haired twin's head bent over a notebook she was writing in.

"Nadia?" He called softly.

Her head snapped up, and Galen found himself looking into her topaz blue eyes that seemed enlarged and framed by the copper frames of her glasses.

"Welcome back Galen." Nadia said quietly, shutting her notebook and driving over to him, her power wheelchair whirring into the silence.

Galen hugged her tightly, his fingers tracing the cold silver collar she wore around her neck. "You're up late honey. You didn't have to wait up for me."

Nadia yawned into his shoulder before she answered. "So are you. I was worried about you, so I stayed up in case you needed help."

Looking guilty, Galen reached into his pocket with one hand, pulled out the empty antidote bottle and gave it to her. The answering look of hurt on her face as she took the bottle from him said it all.

"Oh Galen…" Nadia said in quiet anguish. "Are you okay?"

Galen hated the bitter laugh that crawled its way out of his mouth as he pulled away from her and started to pace. "It's getting stronger twin. The thirst just won't go away anymore…"

Nadia drove over to the corner of the room and a few minutes later came back with a steaming mug braced in her lap. "Here, this should help."

Taking the cup from her, Galen drowned it down as fast as he could, trying not to taste the reheated blood that flowed down his throat and eased the thirst that burned inside him.

"Gah! That's nasty!" He exclaimed with a shudder and handed the cup back to her.

"Well, it wouldn't have tasted so bad if you had been back on time." She replied calmly, taking the cup back from him.

"Sweetheart, I pray to everything we hold dear that you never _ever_ have to drink that crap." Galen growled softly.

"I agree with you wholeheartedly on that score." Nadia nodded quickly as she gathered her things, yawning again. "Well, I'm going to bed."

Taking them from her absently, Galen followed her to their rooms in silence. Putting them on her desk, he waited patiently for her to come out of the bathroom. Unlike most elder brothers with a 'differently-abled' sibling, Galen respected the fact that she tried very hard to do as much as she could on her own. When she came back, he had the key to her collar in his hand.

Unlocking the collar from her throat, he examined it carefully, and then looked with disapproval at the greenish tint of the skin on her neck. "I'll clean this before I sleep honey, you are turning colors again. I wish that it was safe enough for you to go without it for a day or two but…"

"Not while Drac's back I'm not. I have absolutely no interest in becoming vamp chow at this late in the game!" Nadia snapped.

Galen's laughter rang hollow in his ears and he hoped that his twin couldn't hear it too. "He wouldn't eat you, you're still too small to eat!"

As feeble as the joke was, it made her laugh. Instead of letting her get out of her chair on her own, he picked her up and put her into bed herself, pulling her hair out of it's ponytail in the process. Then put the glasses she handed him on the nightstand beside the bed.

He tried hard not to think about how vulnerable she looked in her sleep.

"Sweet dreams Galen, I love you." Came the sleepy murmur from her direction.

"Sweet dreams Nadia, I love you too." He said tenderly.

Plugging her chair into the charger, he took one last look around her room before entering his own though the connecting door between their rooms, the elder vampire still held Nadia's collar in his hand.

Collapsing in his own bed a few minutes later, he heard the familiar plea run though his mind:

'I don't care what happens to me, just keep her safe. I'll do my best on this end, but I'll need help if Drac ever lays his eyes on her. The others I'll deal with, but not him.'


	2. Morning greetings & problem talk

Author's note: For disclaimers, see first chapter. Thank you to Inu-midoriko for all of your help. Please let us know what you think of the changes we have made!

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Nadia yawned and stretched herself out as best as she could, rolling first to one side, then to the other in order to make sure that she didn't miss a stretch. She felt the muscles slowly move and flex before she rolled over. "I need to work out more somehow…" She muttered to herself in annoyance as she winced through the twinges that made her softly hiss in pain.

The sound of a door opening sent her hand under the pillow to the silver-coated knife that she kept there. Twisting her head, she tried to see who it was though her blurred vision. It didn't help much.

"Relax sweetheart, it's just me." Galen's voice chuckled softly from above.

"Galen! Don't DO that! You should know by now that I can't see very well without my glasses on!" Nadia exclaimed, still twisting her head around, trying to bring him into better focus.

For his part, Galen smiled his affection at his twin as he walked over to her bedside. Taking her glasses off her headboard, her vampire bother tenderly slid her glasses on his twin's face. "Sorry sweetheart. I keep forgetting that you're nearly blind when you first wake up. Do you want me to put some lotion on your back?"

Nadia had already taken off the oversized shirt- It was one of Galen's- she'd slept in and had thrown it in the general direction of the hamper before rolling onto her stomach. "Yes please, I was going mad last night trying to scratch all the places that I can't reach."

Galen nodded, and then answered aloud, remembering that she couldn't see it. "Okay honey." Walking to the dresser, he grabbed the bottle of Vaseline lotion and returned to the bedside.

Even after all these years, he still felt sick whenever he looked at their sire's handiwork. Galen swallowed, thankful that his twin was looking in the opposite direction. "May that bastard who fathered us rot in Hell until the end of time," He snarled again.

"And may the Goddess keep him as the worm that he is." Nadia finished calmly in answer. They had lost count of how many times that they had repeated this verbal prayer as part of their 'morning' ritual, but both of them meant every word.

Squeezing a bit of lotion on his hand, Galen took a deep breath before lowering his hands onto her scarred skin.

Her entire back, starting from the base of her neck and ending at her waistline, was covered in a lacework of fine white scars. However, Galen remembered every scar as though it was still freshly bleeding.

Galen never told Nadia that he still had nightmares of her screams; she didn't need to know that. It would only upset her to know that she was causing him pain.

Drake Alexander Stone was a man who wanted only three things in life: wealth, power, and immortality. He had considered women nothing more than walking incubators. When he married, it was for one reason and one reason only, to produce a son.

It made Galen smirk whenever he pictured the day of their birth twenty-one years ago, his joy at finally having a son who could carry on his name, followed by his shock and fury when Nadia followed right behind.

From that point on, they were inseparable. Nothing Drake did had any affect in tearing them apart, if anything, it did the exact opposite.

Although their mother couldn't help them, they knew that she had approved of their spirits. Galen did not begrudge the fact that Nadia had been closer to their mother than he was.

After all, hadn't he been daddy's little boy all those years?

A wince recalled Galen to the present. "Sorry Nadia." He apologized, easing the pressure of his hands.

"Thinking about the past again?" His twin asked quietly, twisting her head to the side so that one blue eye was facing him.

"Yeah. Did I hurt you?" Galen asked.

"No, you just pressed a little too hard." Nadia told him. "Are you finished?"

For an answer, he picked her up off the bed and carried her into that bathroom. He heard a commotion coming from nearby, and it was faster that way. Galen was just grateful that she trusted him in spite of what the man who fathered them had done to her.

"Twin, I can do this by myself, you know?" Nadia protested, while not body shy around her brother, Nadia still felt the need to assert herself as much as possible so as not to be a burden.

"Yes I know, but I can hear Danica and Asher yelling down the hall and you know what that means."

"Oh crud…" She shuddered. "I'm sorry Galen, but if they ask me **that **one more time…"

Galen didn't try to hide the grin that spread on his face when he put his sister on the toilet. Both of them agreed that there were just some things you didn't do with your sibling no matter how close you were! "Just make sure I'm nearby to get you out if a fight starts. I don't trust them to be nice."

"Neither do I." Nadia informed her twin solemnly as she accepted the toothbrush he handed her. "So they actually plan on letting him loose?" She asked, changing the subject before putting the toothbrush in her mouth. Both of them were used to multitasking. Besides, they weren't ready to separate for the 'day' yet.

Galen spat out a mouthful of toothpaste before he answered. "Yeah, Danica was screeching something about that yesterday to Asher I think."

Nadia rinsed out her mouth and spat into the cup with an expression of distaste. "I still think we should get while the getting is good twin, I don't like this. Letting Drac out is like a chicken leaving the door of the henhouse open, you're just begging to get killed."

"They think that Drake, as they are calling him, is going to be what God is to the Christians. No one else sees what he really is."

Nadia stared at her brother in disbelief, ignoring the toothpaste that ran down the side of her mouth for a moment before Galen handed her the empty cup, which she spat into violently. "Oh Goddess, Galen if we wanted a sign, this is it. We're in over our heads, let's get out now." her voice shook with fright.

Galen looked at his sister before using the mouthwash, then letting her take her turn as he spoke in a gentle voice. "Nadia, sweetheart... I promise you that he would have to walk though my ashes to touch so much as one hair on your head. Nothing is going to hurt you while I'm here. We are both scared, but we'll face this together."

She nodded, and without any more protests, let her twin brother finish getting her ready for the day.

Neither mentioned the heavy stone of dread that lay in their chests as they kissed cheeks and went their separate ways.

Some things just weren't meant to be shared… Not even to your other half.


	3. Meeting future alies&unwelcome surprises

Author's notes: Special thanks to Inu-midoriko for keeping me on track and reminding me to post! Hope everyone enjoys the chapter. Sorry for the long wait.

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The fear was a bitter taste in her mouth as Nadia drove quickly though the darkening streets. This wasn't the brightest thing she had ever done in her life, and she knew it. Her lips compressed into a tight line as her eyes never stopped scanning the area in front of her.

Galen was running out of the antidote again, and Nadia wanted to get more before those idiots let Dracula (she refused to call him Drake) out of that room. This worried her more than she wanted to admit. It seemed that every month she needed to get more and more of the vampire antidote for him. The thirst inside her twin was getting harder and harder to keep up with…

Nadia shook her head, banishing those thoughts from her mind. It had been two years ago that their father had come home after his handler had bitten him, two years since he bit his son, killed his wife and beat his hated daughter nearly to death. Just thinking about it made her shiver with terror all over again.

She hoped that they would have more. Nadia hadn't felt safe enough to call first. Galen knew that she was friends with Abigail Whistler, but he didn't know that Abby was part of the Nightstalkers. Frankly, Nadia wanted to keep it that way.

Hopefully, Abby and the gang wouldn't be too mad at her…

It seemed to take forever, but it was really only a half an hour later before Nadia got to the docks and came into sight of the Nightstalkers' base.

When she saw the black figure standing on the deck, she paused, not really wanting to call attention to herself in case she had taken a wrong turn somewhere. Biting her lower lip for a moment, she considered her options. Nadia was just reaching for her cell phone to call Abby and ask her to come outside when the figure's head suddenly turned and saw her.

Blade stared at the girl, who had frozen mid-reach under his gaze. He doubted she was a familiar, since she was a cripple, but he had seen stranger things before. She seemed to know exactly where she was, so he knew she wasn't lost. Losing Whistler had taught Blade caution so he took a few steps towards her.

Carefully, Blade watched her reactions as she watched him approach. She looked more worried and confused than anything else at the moment.

"What is someone like you doing in a place like this? This pace is dangerous." He exclaimed with little to no emotion in his tone.

Nadia swallowed to hide her panic and to moisten her dry throat. "I would like to speak to Abigail if she is available please." She replied as politely and calmly as she could.

He had to admit that the girl was brave. Or was it merely foolishness that led this cripple all the way out here? "What business do you have with her?"

"I have something she needs. She isn't excepting me, but I finished early." Nadia admitted truthfully.

"Nadia!" Came Abby's voice. "You're early! Is everything all right?" The tall, curvy brunette strode quickly towards them, concern in her eyes.

"Yes and no." Nadia replied, ignoring the pain in her left shoulder as she swung the mint green backpack off her chair and handed it to her. "Galen's running out again."

Abby frowned. "That's not good. Let me take that, and I'll drop word to Sommerfield. Be right back!" Before either one could say anything, she had already turned and was heading back into the boat.

Blade noticed that the fragile looking girl looked very amused, even though she was shaking out her hand as though it stung.

"Well, that was easy." She said cheerfully.

"What was in that bag?" Blade asked, sounding bored as he kept an eye on her.

"The usual, borrowed equipment and report." Nadia replied, pushing her glasses up her nose so that she could see Blade better. Then she checked her watch, frowning slightly.

"Borrowing things from other teams is usually looked down upon. I take it your team doesn't have the sources you need." It was a statement rather than a question. He watched her closely, looking for the telltale signs of a lie.

Nadia looked thoughtful, choosing her words carefully. "My brother and I are not Nightstalkers, we are spies. We keep tabs on the vamps, and then pass the info along."

"And the two of you haven't been caught yet? How intriguing." The black man said but raised his eyebrow.

"They think that since I'm in a wheelchair, I have no brain in my head." She grinned.

Suddenly the sound of Mozart could be heard when her cell phone started to ring. "What the--" Looking annoyed, she grabbed the phone and answered it. "Galen, I just got here, what is it?" The frown increased as she listened. "Drat, drat, drat. That's not good! Thanks for letting me know. Yes, I love you too. Stay safe and don't do anything stupid."

She hung up and bit her lip; the knuckles on both hands were white. "So much for staying out of his way…"

"I take it they let him out." King called out as he walked towards them, holding Nadia's backpack in his hand with Abigail following behind him.

"Yeah." Nadia nodded.

"Here's your stuff Nadia, we added some new toys in there too." Abby said as she handed her friend another collar. "This new collar should be stronger than your other ones. I have a feeling your going to need it."

"Hey, I don't go looking for trouble! I've got enough on my plate trying to keep up with Galen!" The girl protested.

"No, but trouble always seems to find you Nadia." King grinned.

Abby rolled her eyes, ignoring him. "If you need anything else, and I mean anything, you've got my number. Don't hesitate, okay?" She said firmly to her friend.

Nadia's answering smile of gratitude brightened up her whole face. "Thank everybody else for me will you please?"

When Abby and King nodded, she smiled at Blade. "I'll keep in touch, thanks for keeping me company." Nadia promised before she turned and drove away.

Blade waited until Nadia was gone from sight before turning to his companions. Taking off his sunglasses, the fury in the gaze that he turned on them could have melted the Empire State building and still have heat to spare.

"So what else did you forget to tell me?" He asked.


	4. Prowling and Observing

(Author's note: Special thanks to Inu-midoriko for all of her help writing this fanfic. I'm sorry that this update took so long, I've had some major issues and family emergencies. Thank you to everyone who sent PMs to me regarding the updates!)

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Galen shifted his weight slightly as he hung up his cell phone before going back inside the tower. He didn't like it when his sister was outside alone at night. It was all too easy to imagine little Nadia getting hurt, or worse…

'Especially now that Drake is back out.' He thought as he casually leaned against one of the pillars next to the door.

As though that thought had summoned him, Galen saw Drake walking around as Danica was giving him the tour.

For a minute, cold ruby eyes met expressionless dark emerald. Galen felt the chill run down his spine, but refused to show any weakness.

Unfortunately, Drake seemed to take that as a challenge.

Drake had indeed noticed Galen seeing how he alone had not taken any notice that he was in the room. He had taken note of Galen's stance and approved. The man stood like a warrior.

"Looking for someone?" Drake asked, casually walking over, ignoring Danica for the moment.

"No, just waiting for somebody." Galen replied in a bland voice. The chills of unease were getting stronger, and he hoped that Nadia wouldn't choose this moment to roll though that door.

"Oh really? Perhaps you wouldn't mind if I waited with you." Drake said calmly.

"Galen? Galen, where are you?" A female voice called softly from the shadow of the doorway.

Galen had already turned toward his twin's voice, completely forgetting that Drake was still standing there. "Nadia, I was worried about you. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, but I did get into a fight on my way back. Do you have time to take a look?" She asked, quietly rolling into the room, not yet seeing that Drake could hear every word.

At the sound of Nadia's voice, Drake had quietly stepped back, wanting to get a good look at this girl that this young warrior was so protective of without being noticed by either of them.

For lack of a better word, he was shocked into momentary silence to see the girl was not only still a human but was also a cripple. It confused him as to why she was calmly moving her wheeled chair towards her vampire warrior without any fear, ignoring her wounded and still bleeding right arm. 'They are definitely related somehow. These two have complete trust in each other. That is something very few can accomplish. Should the girl be attacked this warrior will undoubtedly kill the offender without a second thought.'Drake thought to himself, noticing the similar color of their hair as well as in their facial expressions.

Yet that was where all outward similarity ended. Nadia looked like a fragile princess with her long red-gold hair and high cheekbones. Her hands were too delicate to be anything other than a scholar or a healer. Her normal eyes were a light blue compared to Galen's cat-like emerald orbs. Oddly though, Nadia's right eye seemed to wander a bit and was always slightly turned to the right.

"Okay Nadia, let's go patch you up again." Galen sighed after a few seconds of silent communication with his twin. He looked tired as he turned toward the elevators.

"Hey Nadia, your collar looks odd." Danica spoke up slyly, not liking the fact that she was currently being ignored in favor of the bookworm.

Galen snapped his head immediately to the side upon hearing this, causing Drake to wince silently in shared pain, to look at his sister.

"It's alright Galen. Don't worry about it. The collar did its job and that's all I'm concerned about." The girl replied calmly.

By turning his head to the side, Drake could see that there was a rather large dent in the silver collar and wondered idly how the girl could breathe. He immediately turned his attention back to Galen as the other was now snarling softly.

"I do worry, and you know it." Came the reply as the group got off the elevator and silently headed down the hallway.

Drake couldn't help but notice that Galen had completely forgotten that he and Danica were tagging along and saw that Danica was looking quite amused as well as annoyed about this fact.

"He does that all the time. Those two are brother and sister, but Galen is very protective of her. Neither of them really say too much. Nadia spends all her time in the library while Galen stays out of sight for the most part." Danica explained to him quietly.

Drake nodded and filed that information away for possible later use. Perhaps they could both be useful to him…

Putting that thought aside, he motioned to Danica to remain outside before silently slipping into the room the twins had entered.

'This must be the girl's bedroom.' He thought as he stood to one side.

Looking around, Drake was surprised at the lack of furniture she had in here. The bed itself was small and narrow. On the side table beside a lamp laid an open well-used copy of Bram Stoker's _Dracula_. Across the room was a smooth wooden desk there was a laptop and three candles in holders. Bookcases and CD racks occupied the rest of the available space.

"Twin, I still have no idea how in the world you manage to get into these scrapes." Galen said as he rolled up her sleeve in order to take a closer look at the gash, making Drake turn his attention back to them.

Nadia hissed softly in pain, but kept her eye on what Galen was doing. "I don't know either. My guess would be that the vamp wanted a quick meals on wheels and got hacked when he figured out that he couldn't bite me."

"So why didn't he get your wrist or just bite another area?" Galen asked in a too calm voice.

For an answer, Nadia shifted and threw something on the bed.

"A silver stake… Nice, primitive maybe, but very effective." Galen said, staring at it with no expression in his eyes. "I'm glad it works though. Still, I might have to teach you how to use a gun. I don't like the thought of you having to get so close to them in order for you to defend yourself." The tone in his voice made it wordlessly clear that Galen would hear absolutely no objection to this.

Nadia appeared to realize this because she sighed as she nodded her agreement. "As you wish my brother, though I think that it will be hard to find a gun that fits in my hand as well as my knives do."

Drake raised an eyebrow in surprise. 'Why do you give her weapons to hunt with when she is not fit to kill? Not only that, but you willingly give her weapons to hunt your own kind with!' He thought as he watched Galen examine Nadia's wounded arm with surprisingly gentle fingers.

"This should be stitched honey. I'll be right back." Her brother said softly as he stood and left her room though the connecting door.

Nadia's eyes sharpened as the door closed. "All right Dracula, you can come out now. Though I would strongly suggest that you leave before my brother comes back, otherwise, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes."

Drake felt his lips quirk in faint amusement as he stepped out of the shadows. She was more intelligent than he gave her credit for being. "If you knew that I was there, why didn't you say something while your warrior was still in the room?" He asked.

"While _you_ were studying us, _we_ were studying you." Nadia replied calmly as she took a closer look at her wounded arm. If she was afraid, Drake had to give her points for not showing it. "Yes, this clearly needs to be stitched up… I think my brother's idea of a gun might be a good idea…" She murmured to herself, even though her lips twisted in distaste.

Hearing Galen in the next room, Drake decided that he had heard enough and left the room without another word.

Ignoring Danica's questioning yet artfully wounded gaze, he told her to continue the tour, all the while thinking about the conversation that he had heard. Something was different about those two, and Drake hadn't made it this far by not taking care of problems.

He would watch, he would learn.

Then he would act.


	5. You shouldn't ignore me

(Author's note: Special thanks to Inu-midoriko for all of her help writing this fanfic. Since the last chapter was so short, I decided to post two in one day, but please remember to review. Have fun reading everyone!)

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A few days later, Nadia gingerly rubbed the side of her neck as she turned a page in the book she was trying to translate. The bruise was healing but still quite tender, and it hurt enough that Galen had said that she wasn't allowed to wear the collar until it healed. Grimly, Nadia cursed the rotten timing. She had had time to rethink how she had handled Dracula and was now regretting her bold hasty words.

'I'm an idiot… it's a good thing that Danica keeps him so busy in the bedroom, or I'd be vamp chow by now.' Nadia thought to herself in disgust, shaking her head to clear it. 'I'm glad that my brother can handle himself. He actually laughed at me, well, before he yelled at me anyways… What in the name of the Lady was I thinking at the time?' She continued silently as she wrote in her notebook.

The door opened quietly, and Nadia found herself grinding her teeth again. 'Don't look up!' She reminded herself. 'If you mind your own business, he'll go away again.' Still, Nadia felt a strange sense of loss. This place had once been a retreat for her, somewhere she could go when she had to be alone.

At least it was until Drake showed up. Perhaps it was the atmosphere, but being in a room filled with books calmed him. It always had, especially when he was planning his next attack against someone. What he didn't expect to find, however, was his red-headed little princess at a table reading a book of her own. He smirked inwardly but strode to a shelf to select a book. Perhaps a little taunting was in order.

After he grabbed the book he wanted, which consisted of theories on how to kill a vampire, he took a seat across from her and opened his book. He leaned back in his chair and pretended to read, not even glancing up at her.

This was enough to strangle any woman's self-control…

From the corner of his eye, he saw her take a deep breath. It was subtle, but she had taken it. To smirk would be to let her know he was paying attention to her and although he would be doing a lot of that later on, he wanted to appear as if he had a right to sit there because he had authority over her. He wanted her to feel as if he was giving off the message that he had a right to sit there because he was the vampire king. She hated him and he knew it. Knowing that was a part of the reason that he felt he had to taunt her, rile her up in some way. She felt negative feelings towards him, yet she always seemed to keep a cool demeanor. If anything, Drake wanted to see just how far he could push her until she lost her cool.

Glancing up only a little to see get a look at her now exposed neck, his mouth watered. He wanted nothing more than to sink his fangs into the colored flesh of her skin. The blood pooling on her neck to form a dark spot was almost overbearing. At this rate, he could smell the blood from her virgin body. He wanted it and fully intended to have it. Maybe not now, or soon, but he would have it and by the gods it would surely taste delicious.

Knowing that wasn't the only vampire feeling this way towards his red-haired flame, he wondered if she was brave, or stupid for showing off her neck like that.

'No, she's not stupid, just reckless.' He corrected himself, eyeing the size of the book currently in front of her. 'And perhaps a little more determined to ignore me than I thought.' Turning his eyes back to his own book, Drake continued to keep an eye on her. Sooner or later, she always spoke.

"Gah, can't vampires write in English like everybody else…" She muttered to herself, marking the page she had been reading and shutting the book with a snap. Setting the book aside, she rubbed her tired eyes. "I give up; I need Galen to help me." Still ignoring Dracula, she left the table and disappeared somewhere among the shelves.

Once in relative privacy, she closed her eyes and allowed her fingers to circle her temples. This was getting harder and harder to bear. How come he always seemed be wherever she was!

"Nadia? Honey? You here?" Galen's voice cut though the silence as though it was a heated knife cutting ice.

Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes again and went back into the light.

Well being ignored by two people in less than ten minutes was quite the record. Never before had Drake been so disrespected, especially by a lower vampire and a weak human. Clearly these two 'children' had more to them than he had originally thought. The thing that perplexed him most was that this man, this vampire child, didn't turn his sister into a vampire along with him. He uses her for food and although she's a bit a of a handful, he still insists on protecting her. It was amusing to watch them though. They were so in synch with each other, almost as if they knew what the other was thinking even before anything was said. Perhaps he would understand them better if he knew why Galen was betraying his own kind.

"I'm here Twin." Nadia answered quietly, rolling her chair back into the light, the strain that Drake had seen on her face a moment before had disappeared as she impatiently brushed her fine red-gold hair out of her face. Her human blue eyes softly glowed with welcome. "Is everything all right?" She asked.

Galen's catlike eyes brightened like emerald flames as his lips curved into a welcoming smile that revealed his sharp white fangs. "Hiding again sweetheart?" Galen asked softly, ignoring her question. His voice was rich with love and affection.

It sounded sweet. Too sweet. For Drake at least. But then again, he had never had anyone he really care about call him those petty little endearments or worry for his well being before their own. They were stupid to think that their bond would last. Every bond weakens and one always ends up hurt, or dead. Though at some points, it seemed as if their bond was too strong to break. Too strong to let anyone harm what they have. If he loved her so much, why wouldn't he turn her? Surely he knew that she would die before him.

Nadia smiled at her twin. "Yes and no brother. Originally, I came up here hoping to get some work done, but I hadn't intended to stay here. Danica however, is on one of her rampages, so I decided that quiet was more important than hunger." She explained.

Her warrior winced. "Smart girl. That's why I've been out since nightfall. Danica's trying to get me in her bed again."

Drake smirked a little. He was fully aware of all the lovers Danica has had. It practically reeked off her. Though he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to scare her with his information later.

The redheaded girl looked angry, the expression on her face would have been cute if her eyes weren't so serious, this was a woman who was never meant for the dark world she had found herself in. "That's nothing. Before I got up here, Danica accused me of trying to steal Dracula away from her! She had the gall to say that I was jealous of her!"

Galen's mouth fell open. "Uh-oh, what did you say to her in reply?" He asked, sounding as though he was bracing himself.

"I told her that, vampire lord or not, I didn't want him and that she could keep him. Unlike her, I had better things to do with my time." Nadia replied with a smirk. "I'm still a human, and I'm not exactly good-looking Galen. I don't know what she's thinking, but I'm fairly certain that he doesn't know I exist. If he does, I'm not female to him, thank Goddess!"

'Well, well, well, little princess doesn't think I know she exists huh? Well, let's give her a surprise later on shall we?' He thought to himself, turned the page to his book and kept listening to their conversation. True he hated being ignored, but you could always tell a lot by a potential ally or enemy just by watching them interact with others. He learned that the hard way.

Galen chuckled quietly. "Honey, you are female enough that you will never be mistaken for a male." He said warmly, eyeing the subtle curves under her loose sweatshirt. "The others are just sadly blind." With a grin, he hugged her. "When you're done up here, I put some soup in your room." Gently caressing her cheek, Galen left the room as Nadia moved back among the shelves.

Until now, Drake had been silent, he had learned a great deal from what he just heard, and knowing now that Nadia thought that he didn't know she existed, he had to play with her. He stood, his body smoothly unfolding itself out of the chair. As he followed Nadia into the maze of shelves, he made sure to be extremely quiet. He smirked once he was behind her. He knew exactly what to do.

Nadia was carefully putting books away, her back towards Drake and her hair, which was now loose, swept to one side. The bruising on her fair neck was clearly visible at the pulse point. Her heartbeat was calm and steady to his ears.

Drake watched her for a second or two before moving closer to her chair. His footsteps were unnaturally silent. The vampire lord smirked, once again noticing the bruise on her neck clearly. He was going to add to that.

As he got closer, he could hear her humming softly to herself as she put the last book away, her slender hands confident as they brushed over the book titles.

He stopped, reaching out his hand. It hovered inches from the back of Nadia's neck for a second. He grazed her skin lightly with his nails before grabbing onto her neck tightly and squeezing hard.

Her hands gripped his and pulled as hard as she dared, breathing though her nose as best she could. Under his fingers, her pulse jumped wildly. His hand felt like a brand as her throat.

His hand tightened slightly, nails digging into her skin. 'Now, squirm,' he thought.

She growled slightly and tried to twist her head, still uncertain what he wanted. Her red-gold hair brushed lightly across his skin as she moved. Meanwhile her left hand moved towards her chair's joystick, intending to run him over.

Drake's other hand shot out and grabbed her arm. He growled quietly, and lowering his mouth to her neck, grazed his fangs carefully across her pulse point.

Nadia froze and stopped breathing, her pulse and heart racing. 'His fangs are sharper than Galen's!' She thought in a panic as a small amount of blood followed the path of his fangs, which felt like fire on her sensitive skin.

His tongue slipped out and gently licked the blood off her skin and kissed a line from her collarbone to her jaw. He smirked, releasing her arm and neck as he moved. Drake chuckled quietly at the expression on Nadia's face, feeling much better than before. 'That was a lot more fun than I thought it'd be.' Drake thought.

Nadia's hands flew to her neck and carefully felt along her throat, and her shoulders relaxed when she didn't encounter any true bite marks. She tried to ignore the way her skin had burned at his touch. "Danica's gonna be pissed." The girl said, regaining composure as best she could and trying not to tremble.

"She should be. After all, I just kissed my princess's neck." Drake said with a smirk, turned on his booted heel towards the door, and disappeared from her sight.

"Merciful Goddess, help me." She whispered, though pleased that he had gone away.

Nadia only hoped that it would never happen again.


	6. Warnings unheeded

Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to my faithful partner Inu-midoriko, thank you so much for sticking by my side when crisis struck and I needed you the most. You are everything that a writing partner should be! Read and review everyone!

Later on that night, there was another meeting among the vampires. They were discussing yet another failure caused by Blade and the Nightstalkers. Danica, her fury destructive and rather loud, was making all other vampires except for Drake and Galen cringe. Galen simply looked neutral, although the way his emerald eyes kept drifting to the door made it clear that this meeting was the last thing on his mind.

Drake had been less than impressed with Danica's unnecessary behavior. If anything, her antics only repulsed him and made him want to shut her up. He found himself thinking of his encounter with Nadia the more he wanted to forget it and concentrate on something more productive but he as expected, the cripple never left his mind. It was slightly unnerving but he found himself drawn her uniqueness. She was clearly different from all the others and yet she acted as though she was better in some way, as if they couldn't harm her as long as her warrior was with her. Danica was nothing like the human redhead. She was overly confident, thought only of herself, and drooled over any man that walked by her that would be capable of giving her a good fuck.

On the other hand, however, Nadia was a different person entirely. She kept to herself, she hid her body instead of flaunting it. She'd also rather ignore him rather than acknowledge his presence and she didn't seem like the type to back down even though she was much smaller than everyone else here.

Galen shifted, looking bored. He was twitting a pen between his fingers, but hadn't yet said anything. His presence was a silent reminder that Nadia wasn't alone.

Quickly Drake glanced over at the young vampire warrior. If this vampire boy loved his sister as much as was obvious than why wouldn't he turn her to make sure they would be together for all eternity? It nagged at him.

Finally, Danica had worn herself out and Asher took over. Galen just looked disgusted. When the meeting was over, he stood and calmly left the room, ignoring both Danica and Asher's glares as he did so.

Nadia had been waiting patiently in the hallway and was now talking to her brother in a quiet voice. Her twin listened to her intently, and then roared with sudden laughter at whatever she had said. Smiling, Galen gently touched her cheek and seemed to nod in agreement. Beaming, the girl laughed for joy and bolted outside without looking back.

Drake raised an eyebrow at the exchange. He was surprised by the display of affection from Galen toward the girl in front of other vampires. Briefly, Drake wondered what that was about for a moment before continuing to follow Galen. He wasn't sure if he thought their open affection to be brave or foolish. Since Nadia was small and a little more defenseless than everyone here in the tower, it would be easier to rile Galen up and get on his bad side if someone were to hurt her knowing it would eat up the elder redhead.

The older brother opened a door and entered. His office wasn't as large as some of the others, but Galen clearly had good taste; judging by the worn leather furniture and dark wood office desk, this was plainly a man's office, yet the neatness of the room spoke loudly of a feminine presence. He stood in front of the door for a moment before knocking.

"Enter." Galen said firmly. He figured that Drake would come after him eventually, which was why he had come to his office.

Drake opened the door and slipped into the office. His eyes settled on the vampire after briefly glancing around the place.

Galen was standing behind his desk, his emerald eyes unreadable. "You may sit if you wish." He said politely to the vampire lord.

He raised an eyebrow at how polite Galen acted. Now he knew where Nadia got her polite demeanor. "I'll stand, thank you." he said.

The younger vampire nodded, but took a seat himself, sliding his body effortlessly into his chair and folded his hands together calmly. "I bow to no one Drake and neither does my sister." Galen spoke calmly.

"I never said you had to." Drake said, containing his amusement just barely.

"Why else do you think I never marked Nadia with my Glyph? I don't own her, and she doesn't own me. We belong only to ourselves. Our father, who was also my Sire, learned that lesson the hard way."

Drake arched a brow at having an answer the question he had never voiced aloud. "I see. How exactly did he learn the hard way Galen?"

"I killed him, and Nadia helped." Galen bared his fangs in a bloodthirsty grin at the memory.

The elder vampire tilted his head, watching Galen for a moment. Then suddenly a wicked grin spread across his face. "Oh that's just too rich. How did our little princess help, my warrior?"

"She held the stake, I pounded it in. He couldn't move though, she broke both his feet."

Drake chuckled with amusement shining in the depths of his ruby catlike eyes. This girl would make a fine vampire. To show no mercy to those who deserved it least was something he hadn't expected of the younger redhead but now that he knew, his interest in her piqued more than ever.

"She ran his feet over with her chair for about an hour. It was kind of funny to watch." Galen admitted. 'And very, very scary.' He thought, but wouldn't say.

"I would imagine so," his dark chuckles filled the room.

"Still when the time came, I made sure that his blood was on my hands, not hers." He said flatly.

Drake tilted his head at that. "Why? She's obviously more than capable of holding her own." he asked, interested in what Galen had just said, and wanting to know the reason behind the other warrior's actions.

"Our father had already done enough to her, and I wasn't about to let his blood soil her hands. She isn't a killer, and by that time I was."

Tilting his head, Drake took in the information. He didn't understand why Galen wasn't proud of being a vampire, although now he seemed to grasp some of the reasons why the vampire was so protective of his sibling.

"I know it doesn't make sense to you. But Nadia's my sister, a human; I fight the thirst because I refuse to hurt her."

"I see," Drake said, crossing his arms. "Why don't you just turn her? It would be easier that way." he said, eyebrows raised slightly.

Now Galen stood up, walking over to the window and looking outside, clearly deep in thought. "You were the first vampire Drake. Your personality never changed. When you are turned however, you slowly start to loose who you were before."

"I am aware of that," Drake said, slightly surprised. He didn't think Galen would have figured it out so quickly. It amazed him to a certain extent but he wouldn't ever let anyone know that. It would totally ruin his image of not being hindered by anyone.

"If it weren't for Nadia, I would be a match for you, maybe even worse than you. Nadia read somewhere that 'the gentlest of hearts can become the cruelest torturers'; it gives me nightmares to think of what could happen to her if I turned her into a vampire..."

"Ah," Drake stated, finally getting it. "You don't want to see her become... like Danica." He raised an eyebrow, watching the vampire.

"Exactly." Galen's voice sounded like a steel trap. "If she were ever turned, Danica would be dead in five minutes."

"I'd pay to see that," Drake muttered, smirking slightly. His mind wandered for a moment or two before focusing on the conversation again. "Five minutes only?" he asked, eyebrows still raised.

"Nadia has her own way of doing things."

"So I've gathered... "

"I still have to teach her to use a gun..." Galen murmured, almost to himself.

"A gun?" Drake sounded surprised.

"Knives are fine, but I don't like her being that close."

"Right. After all, another injury like her previous one could send the others into overdrive."

"Most guys ignore her but..."

He gave Galen a questioning look when the other vampire didn't finish.

"Some don't, Asher for one, has already tried to get into her bed more than once."

The vampire overlord growled silently. Why would Asher go after a human? It didn't make any sense to him, though he wouldn't mind trying to do the exact same thing. His eyebrows shot up when he realized that.

Galen chuckled. "She handled it well though."

"How exactly did she handle it?" he asked, curiously. He wouldn't mind hearing the tale.

"After she flipped out for a second, she shut the door and got Danica."

"Danica?" Drake stared at him for a moment. "I can only imagine what happened…"

"Danica dragged him stark naked out of her room, screaming at him all the while."

Drake chuckled at that image. "That would have been a sight to see," he murmured. "Naked?"

"Nadia was completely horrified and slept in my room for a week." The older redhead shrugged. "I can't blame her though."

"I don't think I would blame her either." He agreed.

It was only now that Galen turned from the window to face Drake again, his emerald eyes cold and expressionless. "The next time someone tries that trick, I told her to geld them, no questions asked." The flat tone of his voice was a warning.

Drake directly met the other vampire's eyes. He noted the tone of the young vampire's voice and smiled coldly.

"Danica isn't the only one who has noticed your fascination with her."

The older one stared at him for a moment. He hadn't realized he had been that obvious.

"Stay well away from her Drake." Was all Galen said.

Drake glared at the vampire, a fire raging in his cat-like ruby eyes. 'No one orders me around.' he thought, turning toward the door. "I go by my own agenda." He was going to have some fun after this.

Galen watched him go, knowing that he had just made things worse.

He slipped out of the office only to have questioning blue eyes up stare at him. The being looking at him currently just had to be the subject of the previous conversation…

For her part, Nadia stared up at him in shock, and she swallowed as she shifted a very large folder closer to her chest.

He smirked down at her. He pointed at the folder she was hugging to her chest. "And what have you got there?" Drake asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Work." Was all she said. "What were you doing in my brother's office?"

Drake bent down slightly, making eye contact. "Having a little chat with your dear brother is all." He grabbed her chin and bared his teeth, smirking.

Suddenly there was a knife at the older vampire's throat, even as her heart skipped three beats. "Remove your hand from my person." She said oddly formally.

The soul of evil smiled at her, pulling his hand away. He straightened and walked past her. "I'll see you later my little hell cat."

Nadia didn't bother to answer, but flew into her brother's office instead.

The sun was just rising on a new day as Danica finally fell asleep. Curling her body in the sweat soaked silk sheets, the room smelled of sex. Danica's room was as fancy and rich as Nadia's was simple.

An already irritated Drake pushed open the door and stopped short. He could smell the sex in the room and growled quietly. 'It doesn't surprise me.' He thought.

Meanwhile, Nadia yawned as she wrestled her way out of her own narrow bed. She had gotten some sleep but not enough. 'Galen's gonna kill me, but I need coffee if I'm going to stay awake in class... Damnit.' Pulling on a pair of worn blue jeans and a fresh sweatshirt, she brushed her hair and left the room, heading to the mess that the other familiars called a kitchen.

Drake tilted his head slightly, glaring at Danica's form on the bed. He didn't know why he put up with her.

Pouring a cup of coffee and dosing it heavily with cream and sugar, she sighed. 'At least Drake's not up, praise Vesta...'

Disgusted, he turned and left the bedroom without a single word to the sleeping Danica. Upon going down the stairs, he was surprised to see Nadia sitting at the table looking seemingly wide-awake in the kitchen and stood in the door for a moment silently.

'Oh great, I spoke too soon…' Still, Nadia decided that it was too early in the morning to fight and decided to be polite. "Morning."

"Morning," he said, watching her for a moment. Drake entered the room, glancing around at the bare stainless steel skeleton of a kitchen.

She sipped again at her coffee, and then made a face. "Gah, reminds me of college food. If I add anymore sugar though, I'll be climbing of the walls for a month instead of a week..."

Drake glanced over at her, an eyebrow raised. He didn't want to see what would happen if she had added more sugar. "Wouldn't want that now would we?" he said.

Wordlessly, Nadia shook her head. "I would hope not."

He nodded, smirking slightly. "It would be a sight to see."

"I know, Galen had to pull me off last time. He wasn't very happy with me." Nadia shrugged and drained the cup in three long swallows, then rolled her chair back over to the counter to make herself another cup.

"Really?" Drake questioned, eyebrow raised again. He watched her roll back toward the counter and get another cup. "Another cup? How much of that do you drink?"

"Depends. I didn't sleep well yesterday, but I've got a five hour class in two hours. It's only my second cup, but I'll probably have more two cups of vending machine cappuccino once I get on the campus."

"Damn," Drake murmured, surprised. He didn't think she could drink that much caffeine in one day, not that he really cared. "That's a lot of coffee for such a small person."

"Hey, I gotta stay awake." She looked insulted.

"I'm just saying," he said, smirking. "I meant nothing by the small person comment."

From the expression on her face, she wasn't buying it. She looked about to tell him off when a jingling noise cut her off. "What now?" She asked aloud irritated as she pulled out a black and chrome cell phone out of the pouch at her side.

Drake raised his eyebrows at the cell phone. He didn't like those things what so ever. "I hate those things," he said pointing at the phone. "Such an irritating device."

Nadia ignored this. "Hello? Abigail? What... Oh man! You've got to be..." From there, she began to swear very creatively using words that no young lady in her right mind would ever say aloud.

Drake raised his eyebrows at the creative words spilling from the girl's mouth. Some of them he didn't even understand, he hadn't even heard a couple of them. He shook his head, chuckling quietly.

"All right... thanks for letting me know. Yeah... yeah... See ya then." Nadia flipped the phone shut with an angry snap. Her blue eyes were bright with hot fury.

"Dare I ask what happened?" Drake stated, eyes on her, idly noting the fire that burned in her eyes only made her more beautiful. "You don't seem happy."

"I'm not." She ground out, gulping down the rest of her coffee. "Class is starting an hour early, and we have to stay another extra hour in the lab."

"Oh..." he said, shaking his head. "That's not a very nice thing to hear in the morning." He smirked slightly.

The girl rather quickly put her cup in the sink, though judging from her expression, she would have rather thrown it in. Her eyes were now dark and stormy. "You have no idea." She ground out as she started towards the door.

Drake raised an eyebrow, noticing he was in the way. He didn't move though, he wanted to see how far he could push her until she snapped.

She swung around to avoid him, muttering under her breath as she headed back to her room to pack her bag.

He followed her, quietly. He didn't quite catch what she muttered but shrugged it off.

Drake watched as Nadia did her level best to ignore him as she dropped a heavy denim tote bag on her neatly made single bed. Unlike Danica's room, Nadia's smelled of roses and candle smoke. Rolling over to her desk, she pulled open a drawer and began to pull out textbooks.

Amused, Drake stood in the doorway, glancing around the room briefly. He noticed the smell of roses and raised an eyebrow. He had never noticed that smell before.

Dumping the heavy textbooks on the bed next to her bag, she returned to her desk and opened another drawer after shutting the first one.

He knew that her ignoring him was an excuse for her not to talk to him or acknowledge that he was in her room. He was fine with it though, she'd have to acknowledge him sometime…whether he made her or not. For now anyway, he watched her maneuver around her room, looking for something.

Apparently, she found what she was looking for and laughed. Grinning, the redhead grabbed the red notebook she wanted and sat back up in her chair. Going over to the bed, she packed the bag quickly but neatly.

Drake noticed the red notebook and looked at her questioningly. 'I wonder what that is…' he thought, raising his eyebrows.

After packing the bag, she pulled the strap over her head so that the bag itself would rest in her lap. Nadia was about to turn towards the door when her cell phone rang a second time. "Vesta, fire Goddess of Virgins!" She exploded as her slender hand fumbled for the phone.

Surprised, Drake stared at her after that outburst. 'Did she just say that?' he thought, eyebrows raised. He didn't think she was a virgin before but this kind of proved his assumption wrong.

Her eyes flashed an annoyed fire as she answered the phone. "By Vesta's Fire Lan, this had better be good! I'm really not in a good mood right now…"

'No kidding.' Drake thought, smirking. He tilted his head after hearing her use the term Vesta. He didn't really know what that meant but he intended to find out.

However, after listening for a few minutes, Nadia's face went blank and her expression seemed to turn somewhere inside herself. "Yeah… What? When?" she growled into the phone, the sound being more cute than scary, if you weren't looking at her face. "All right! All right! Lan you had better be right about this meeting. You know you owe me for this, I have plans with Galen tonight."

Drake raised an eyebrow. 'She has plans with Galen? How… interesting.' he thought. He never took them as siblings to do anything outside of business at a time like this. Especially since he was here.

Slowly, Nadia appeared to be calming down a bit. "Yes Lan, I know. I'm sorry I took my temper out on you. You know how I get. Thanks. Give Hannah and the children all my love. Yes, yes. I know. No, I won't forget. bye." Nadia closed her eyes as she quietly clicked the phone shut. After a minute, she turned around and tossed both the phone and the bag back on the bed. Driving over to the closet, she pulled out a covered hanger and silently went into the bathroom.

'Wonder what that is…' he thought watching her disappear into the bathroom. If she wanted to pretend he wasn't here and try to will him away, that was fine. But he wasn't going to willed away like a dream. He was very real and whether she liked it or not, he was going to stay until she said something to him. Or at the very least glanced his way.

When she came out of the bathroom, it was clear that Nadia still belonged to the ranks of womanhood; though in her mind she was no match for Danica. She was dressed in a pale peach suit jacket with a white button down shirt underneath and a matching peach skirt. Her smiling full pink lips were a shade darker thanks to some subtle lip-gloss. Pink-jeweled earrings hung from her ears that swung softly when she moved her head. The earrings and the soft lines of her bare white throat could been seen because she had braided her hair and twisted it into a gleaming red-gold crown with the rest of it hanging down the back of her wheelchair like a silken rope. Her delicate fingers were as equally bare as her neck.

He glanced at her and ran his gaze over her in a slow study. 'She cleaned up very well.' He thought to himself and memorized her features when her hair framed them like this. True she was no real beauty, but she was clearly feminine and quite pretty in her own way and sometimes it was good to have just feminine. He was suddenly glad she wasn't anything like Danica. Sure she had her looks but she wasn't like Nadia. Nadia was different. She was his princess.

Nadia stopped in her tracks surprised to see Drake still standing there. She thought he had left! Her heart pounded in fear. Slowly she made her way past him, hoping to get out the door before he got his wits together again. 'At least he's got Danica in his bed and not me...' Quickly, she rolled on over to the bed and grabbed her bag to slide it on her lap.

Drake's piercing ruby eyes were still on her. Clearly not even attempting to hide the fact his eyes were roaming over her.

Sliding the strap over her head, she made a beeline for the door. Her attempt to get past him, snapped him from his thoughts. He stood in her way, head tilted slightly with a knowing smirk planted on his face.

"I'm going to be late for class." She said fighting for calm. 'Why is he looking at me like that?' Nadia thought, momentarily panicking and struggling to calm down.

"I wasn't aware class was a formal event," Drake said, smirking down at her. "Either that or you wish to cause a riot." He chuckled to himself, picturing something like that happening in his head. For some reason, he found it funny.

"It's not, but I have a meeting to attend to after class."

"A meeting?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Having to do with my work." She explained firmly, trying to go around him a second time.

His hand shot out and grabbed her chair. "What work?" he asked, being persistent. He knew this was driving her nuts but it was thoroughly entertaining for him

"If you must know, I'm a writer." She snapped angry.

"That would explain some things actually," His grip on her chair did not loosen.

"Let go of my chair Dracula."

"As the princess wishes," he said mockingly. He released her chair and stepped aside, the look in his eyes was both playful and yet cruel as he watched her.

She didn't hesitate, she fairly flew out the bedroom door, never once looking back. Only when she was a safe distance down the hall did she look over her shoulder, once again in complete control of herself. The fact that she looked back amused him. He smirked, chuckling quietly. A few minutes later, she was outside in the bright sunlight.

To pass the time he went to the library and picked out a couple books on vampirism. Some of them were fiction and it greatly amused him to see that vampires were portrayed to be such vile creatures. But then again, they were creatures, and not very pleasant one at that. It was no wonder the children everywhere cowed in fear at the mention of vampires lurking in the shadows at night.

It wasn't until nightfall that Nadia returned, a smile of triumph on her lips. She looked happy and quite pleased with herself.

Drake had made his way into the kitchen after picking up some sounds from the front door and wasn't at all surprised to see it was Nadia was that driving through the front door in her chair. His eyebrows rose after seeing her expression.

"Hi honey, how are you?" Galen called coming down the stairs at a fast clip, joy in his cat-like eyes.

Nadia's eyes lit up when she saw Galen looking quite handsomely hot in his tuxedo. "Hi yourself handsome. You better hope Danica doesn't catch you before we leave, otherwise we'll never get out the door!"

"Pot calling kettle black! Asher's tongue is going to hit the floor, and you aren't even dressed up yet." Galen replied easily, his fangs gleaming softly as he smiled.

Drake raised an eyebrow at the exchange. Wondering where exactly they were going. He growled silently at the Asher comment. There was no way he was letting that vile creature lay a finger on his princess.

Her laughter rang though the room. "I promise I won't take long hon. You just stay out of sight, or yell if you need rescuing." Nadia replied, already heading toward the elevator.

Galen's grin faded as she rolled out of sight. "Asher stay out of her way tonight..." He muttered to himself

The vampire lord watched her disappear into the elevator before glancing over at Galen. He still wanted to know where they were going. He gave Galen a side-glance and asked, as if bored, "Where exactly are you two going?"

"I'm taking her out to dinner."

Drake raised a questioning eyebrow. "Why is everything so formal today?"

"Nadia had a meeting with her editor earlier, and I just felt like taking her out to eat tonight."

"Ah I see," Drake said, crossing his arms. "I knew about the meeting earlier, but not this."

"I missed just spending time with her, so we take each other out once a month."

"Well isn't that sweet," Drake said, smirking slightly.

"It's for our protection too. Asher knows better than to mess with me and Danica has felt Nadia's sharp words more than once."

"Sharp?" Drake questioned, eyebrow raised. "Yes I imagine she'd have to be able to have a sharp tongue since she's disabled unlike everyone else. Though make sure she doesn't piss off the wrong person."

"She knows things I don't ever question her about. Ever."

"Well then my warrior, if you won't, then neither shall I. I wouldn't want to end up on the wrong side of her tongue."

"That shouldn't be hard for you. I live with her, you don't. Or has Danica finally kicked you out of her bed?"

"And what would you know of it? Danica is nothing more than a bitch to warm my bed."

Galen smirked. "She won again..."

The older vampire shrugged, smirking. "I'm on to better things."

Before Galen could ask anything, Nadia came back. She was dressed in a stunning yet very modest emerald dress with her flaming hair cascading over her left shoulder.

Galen stood at attention, Drake completely forgotten, as he took his sister's hand. "You, as always, are beautiful Nadia." He whispered quietly.

Drake stared at her, not hiding it either. It was like a replay of earlier only he was blatantly obvious this time.

Letting Galen kiss her hand and tuck it into his elbow, she couldn't help but blush. "Don't let Danica hear you say that dear one, I'm still in trouble because she doesn't believe than I'm not interested in Dracula's bed."

Her brother grinned. "Just like her. Don't worry hon. I know you are too smart to go throwing your good heart after that demon of black luck. If you need to, you know where the house keys are." He said as he opened the door for her.

Finally, he relented his stare when he heard his nickname she gave him. He cleared his throat and stared piercingly into her eyes. It didn't matter that she didn't make eye contact with him, he knew she still felt the stare he was giving her and that was enough for him. For now.

In a few minutes both of the twins had disappeared just as Danica appeared. "My lord, is something wrong?" She asked sweetly, her gold cat-like eyes meeting his.

The vampire lord turned his sharp gaze to Danica and relished in the momentary fear that shot through her eyes. "Nothing is wrong Danica."

"As you wish." She said calmly, walking away. Outwardly looking like a man's dream of a sexy woman.

He stared after her, shaking his head and walked in the opposite direction. "She's only a bed warmer." He said to himself.

It wasn't until an hour before the dawn that the twins returned, both of them looking like they had had the time of their lives. Galen personally walked Nadia to her door before leaving her for the day.

Hearing them come back, he seemed to walk through every wall until he was in the empty room beside Nadia's. He waited until Galen was gone and she was in her room before walking into her room and making himself comfortable on her bed.


	7. Greet the dawn fighting

Author's note: Thanks to Inu-midoriko for everything she has done for me and reminding me what needs to be done. She is the best! Sorry for the long wait and I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.

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Wishing her brother good night, she entered her room and shut the door. Not bothering to turn on the light before throwing her purse on her desk, she let down her hair. A smile hovered on her lips.

He watched her from his spot on the bed and found it to be quite amusing that she hadn't noticed his presence yet. His expression remained passive as he watched her move from one place to another.

It wasn't until she brushed the touch lamp next to the bed that she saw him there and quickly had to muffle a scream. "What in the world--!"

He then grinned. "Well, well, well, it's about time you noticed my presence. You wouldn't make a very good hunter would you?"

"What are you doing in my room?" She asked, her hand hovering over a drawer as she spoke, ignoring his comments.

"I think the real question is: what took you so long to notice my presence? If I were some mad killing machine, you'd be dead five times over by the time you noticed me. And look," he said with a wicked grin. "You haven't even pulled a weapon on me yet. Tsk, tsk. You put the hunters to shame young one."

Nadia jerked open the drawer beside her and took a sharp knife out of it. She gave him a glare for not shutting up about her not noticing him. "I meant what I told Danica." Even he wasn't there to try and get into her pants tonight, she felt that it still needed to be said. She refused to be a toy that Drake played with whenever he was bored of his other whores.

He snatched the knife from her with next to no effort. "You're a little late for that, don't you think?" he narrowed his eyes at her and fiddled with the blade and tip of the knife. "You meant what you said did you?"

Nadia hissed in pain. "I have no interest in being somebody's sex doll."

"I never said anything about you becoming my sex doll. My, my, you humans jump to too many conclusions." he said mockingly but the hard look in his eyes betrayed his voice.

"For you maybe." She snapped softly, careful not to raise her voice as she turned her chair to the side as she tried to avoid him.

Drake growled quietly, grabbing the armrests of her chair. "I want you to be more than my sex toy. That role is for Danica. You, my dear, will play a much better, more respectable role." he said lowly.

"And what role might that be?" She asked her dark blue eyes large in her face.

"A role you'll find out soon enough."

"Why don't you go back upstairs to your girlfriend?"

"She's hardly my girlfriend." he said, growling at her. "She's nice when you want to screw the fuck out of someone but lately, she just isn't doing it for me. Besides, I've got my eyes on someone else at the moment." he said while staring rather obviously at her.

"So? I'm not going to roll onto my back because you say so. Go find somebody else because I am not interested."

Drake tilted his head, admiring the way she spoke for only a moment. "I haven't even asked anything of you yet. But since you're being _so generous _I ask that you only consider the possibilities that come with being in my presence."

"What part of 'no' don't you understand?"

"The part where you're naive and don't know the benefits of certain things in life. Such as ensuring that you'll never be bit. Ever."

The redhead narrowed her eyes untrustingly.

Drake smirked at her. He put the knife he had taken from her earlier against her cheek. "But then again if you want an early death..."

"Dying hurts, death doesn't." Was the simple answer she gave.

"Oh no my dear. Dying is the starting of death. Although death may not hurt, it is most interesting. You get to experience things unlike anything you ever could in this world. Death, my princess, is magnificent. But lucky for me," he said, with a slight grin to his face. "I am the definition of terror. I do not have to worry about dying because I am already dead." with that said, he grazed the blade of the knife against the pale column of her throat.

Nadia reacted, suddenly leaning forward, her small fist connecting with his cheek.

His head snapped to the side from the punch. It was more out of surprise than actual strength. He didn't think she would punch him. He slowly turned back to look at her, amusement filling his eyes along with slight temper. "Now, now Nadia, no need to be feisty… Do you want me to leave?" he asked her, mockingly. His grip on blade, against her throat didn't lessen. He was thoroughly enjoying this.

The redhead remained silent, keeping her dignity. When she didn't answer he grunted and took the blade away from her neck. He set it down back in the drawer and turned to Nadia with cold, unrelenting eyes as color came back to her face.

"Why do you insist on fighting?"

"No one controls me, not anymore."

"Anymore?" he questioned, slightly interested. "And who would be the unfortunate man to try and tame you? You are but a flame waiting to be captivated. Given the right pyro, your dance will cease."

She laughed slightly. "We killed for our freedom, my twin and I."

"I already knew that," he said, raising his eyebrows.

"He fathered us, and turned my brother."

Drake tilted his head slightly at that. "He fathered you?" he asked, eyebrows still raised. "Galen failed to mention that."

"He was our father, not that we called him that."

"Odd. I assume he turned out to be quite the demon." he said.

"He was a true Drake."

Drake raised his eyebrows, smirking. "Oh was he now?"

"To us at least, yes." She said softly.

"How sad," he said lowly, smirk still on his face.

Nadia didn't bother answering, she was just happy to breathe freely without the fear of a blade piercing through her neck.

Drake smirked at her, deciding to toy with her some more. "So where were we?" he asked her mockingly.

"You were leaving if I remember correctly."

The vampire daywalker chuckled quietly at her attempt to get him to leave. "No, if I remember correctly," he said, leaning back further against her bed. "I was about to ask you a couple more questions."

"I'm not willing to answer."

He sighed. "Does it really look like I care what you say?" he asked, bringing his face closer to hers smiling at the while.

"I would think you would have better things to do than waste your time on a crippled human." The tone of her voice was quiet, but her blue eyes were as hard as diamonds.

Drake smirked. "I do," he replied, red eyes bright with inner fire. "But when I want something answered, I get it answered."

"You'll get over it." Came the cold reply

"I don't get over things," he said, his other hand on her thigh. "So, getting over it... is not an option, princess."

"Don't call me that." She hissed.

"I will call you whatever I want," a sly grin crossed his features. "Princess."

Nadia squeezed her eyes shut, not letting him see her in distress. "Why?

"Why what?" he asked mockingly. He kept his grip on her thigh.

"Why do you call me that?" She managed.

"Princess? Because that's what you are." he replied, smirking. He was enjoying this entirely too much.

The redhead kept her eyes shut, grateful that he hadn't reverted to his true form.

Drake chuckled, enjoying her vulnerability at the current moment. His face inched closer to hers, fangs visible through his smirk.

Nadia flinched, actually flinched, and drew back her face.

"Aww," he said, quietly. "Did I scare the little girl?"

Nadia drew back her hand again. "Let go of me."

"As you wish," Drake said. The hand on her thigh released her.

The relief and surprise that crossed over her features was priceless and if he wasn't trying to be serious at the moment, he would have chuckled at her.

"Thank you." she finally responded.

"I wouldn't want to scare you away. Besides, what's the fun in having an unwilling princess by your side?"

She chuckled, but there was no humor in the sound. "It wasn't intended to be nice, and you are not going to get my dress off, just give up already. I already told you I'm not interested. It's your own fault if you end up being disappointed."

Suddenly Drake appeared behind her. An arm wrapped around her throat but it wasn't tight enough to cut off her air circulation. His other hand went down to her upper thigh. "Now, I'm going to explain this to you one more time, Nadia." when she stiffened and gasped in fear of what he was about to do, he grinned but made sure the grin stayed away from his voice. "You _will_ be mine. Perhaps not now or tomorrow or even a year from now, but you will be my Queen. You will be respected, that will be your role. You will never have to fear of a stray vampire biting you... ever." as he said all this by her ear, his hand on her thigh inched slowly up and down. Eventually he tugged her dress higher and higher until his hand met her skin.

"Don't touch me." she hissed and tried to struggle out of his grip but of course, he was too strong and her attempts failed.

"I want to. You have no idea how tempting you are, do you?" his lips were by her ear, his hot breath lingered on the bridge of it each time he spoke, sending a shiver down her spine. "Your viper tongue makes me want to kiss you speechless. It makes me want to take you for hours on end until you're brain can no longer come up with anything to say." his hand found the hem to her panties and with a few of his fingers, he played with it.

"Stop it." she managed to hiss out. Color rose to her cheeks from the embarrassment.

"You, princess, are a huge cock tease and I refuse to be denied something I want and right now, at this moment, I want you."

"I said no." Her voice trembled when his finger dipped a little lower.

"That you did. I won't take you now. But I will eventually." his finger pulled back, away from her panties and away from under her dress. He straightened and patted her head. "Not to worry, I won't take you unwilling."

"Thank you." She said haughtily and glared at him. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she opened a drawer and removed a shirt from it, then a pair of jeans. "I should get some sleep, but I've got things to so. No more coffee though... Drat..." She muttered, wiggling out of her tights to put her jeans on.

His eyes trailed down her body for a moment. He just watched her, interest piquing.

"A chocolate high might work though..." She said as she pulled on her jeans. "Editors..."

"Chocolate is just as bad." he said, eyebrows raised. "What about editors?"

"They want the next half of my book and a half dozen poems, and they want it last week." she said reluctantly, knowing that if she didn't answer him, he would probably do something drastic again to get the answer out of her.

"Well aren't they pains in the ass," he drawled.

The redhead just shook her head. "I don't mind. _Their_ demands are reasonable." She replied.

Drake raised an eyebrow, understanding the underling meaning. "Reasonable... I'm not so sure of that."

Pausing in the middle of zipping and buttoning her jeans, she glared at him.

He raised his hands slightly, in a false defeated gesture. "Glaring isn't nice princess," he said, smirking despite himself.

"Then don't call me princess and mind your own business. Only one man is allowed to use those endearments, and he isn't in this room." She replied, turning her attention back to her fly.

"And you think I care because...?" he said, watching her. Nadia frowned, then, leaving her shirt on the dresser, she went to the connecting door and opened it a little. "Galen dear, I'm going to be at the house for a while. Do you need anything while I'm gone?"

A low muttered rumble was the only reply, but Nadia laughed. "All right, I love you too. Be careful while I'm gone." Smiling, she shut the door and went back to get her shirt. Quickly, Nadia put a t-shirt on and pulled it into place; she didn't bother changing her bra.

Drake raised an eyebrow, finally hearing what she said earlier. "Where are you going?" he asked. He walked up behind her and looked down at the top of her head.

"I will not have both you and Asher squabbling over me like a pair of lusting rabid wolves while I am trying to work."

Drake growled quietly at the mention of Asher. "Nice analogy princess. I suppose I can let you leave without a fuss... but at a price."

"Oh? And what, pray tell, would that price be?"

"A simple kiss."

"No."

"One small kiss and you get to leave without a display like we had a few minutes ago."

Glaring at him, she weighed her options. If she kissed him, she could leave without a fuss. If she didn't, he'd try to feel her up again. Hm... a kiss it is.

Damn.

"Fine, but only a small one and this is the only one you'll ever get from me. Ever. Next time I won't give in no matter how much of a rush I'm in."

Smirking in victory, he leaned down and planted a gentle, soft kiss onto her lips. She kissed back quickly and pulled back.

"There, happy now?"

"I'm satisfied, for now. Again I ask: Where are you going?" he asked again, raising an eyebrow.

"Galen has the number if he needs me." She replied, not answering.

He sighed, having been frustrated a little too much in the last few hours. "How lovely for you." he stated

"Yes it is." Nadia said as she packed her notebooks carefully.

He tilted his head and snatched one of the notebooks from her. "What's in here?" he asked, actually curious.

"Rough drafts and poems that I must type up."

"Really," he said, flipping through it.

She tried to snatch it back from him. "Give it back to me."

He flipped through it some more, holding it high above her head. He stopped on one page and read the poem there. He raised his eyebrows.

_Burning eyes and bloody hands_

_Not content with what he has_

_Alive since the dawn of time_

_Some say he's the first of his kind_

_Now he's back and women want him_

_They will throw themselves at this lord_

_Each thinking to use their charms_

_To bind him to her will_

_One is already his concubine_

_Although she schemes_

_To become his queen_

_I thought he'd have better taste_

_Unmarked, I remain invisible_

_No one owns or controls me_

_I alone will bow to no one_

_Not even a vampire lord_

She reached up and gently tugged the notebook out of his grasp.

He looked down at her. "And that was?" he asked. He knew what it was, but wanted to hear it from her. This little hellcat was proving to be most interesting.

"Thoughts and observations."

"Well isn't that nice?" he asked, grabbing the notebook yet again. He smirked down at her. "I'm not quite done with that." he said lowly.

Nadia just shrugged and went to get her hairbrush instead.

He watched after her for a moment before his eyes went back to the words on the pages. His mind kept repeating the last stanza of the poem. It got him thinking and he smiled slightly. He would love to see Danica's face if he made this human his queen. It would be a smack in the face but he would love to see it.

Silently, the girl flipped her hair back and ran her fingers though it to tame it a little. "Are you finished reading yet?" She asked calmly.

Drake came back from his musings and shook his head. "I think I'll borrow it," he said lowly, smirking at his previous thoughts.

"I need it back actually; maybe I'll let you look at it again another time, if you ask me politely."

He tilted his head, placing the notebook down gently on the bed. He smiled at her before his hands shot out and jerked her from her chair. "You really do like me, don't you?"

The redhead was forced to wrap her arms around his neck to support herself. "Why are you purposely getting in my way?"

"Because I adore you when you are thoroughly pissed off at me," he said, smirking slightly. "You have certain fire that dances in your eyes. I never see that anymore. I like it, a lot."

"That's not a healthy habit you know. Stick to your concubine and you'll live long enough to battle Blade." She smirked

"Yes well," he started, baring his fangs. "I was never one to play it safe. He lowered his head and nipped at the soft skin of her throat.

"Ouch!" She tried to draw away.

He grabbed the back of her head and held her there as he licked the wound, savoring her taste. She whimpered and just trembled in his arms, very afraid. He smiled slightly at the taste of her blood. It was metallic and yet sweet, like honey. Drake didn't want to turn her, but he did want to mark her. Soon after he licked the wound until the bleeding stopped, he put her back in her seat, but missed by a little.

Only Nadia's hold saved her from falling on the floor. "What in the _fuck_ were you doing?" She demanded, the curse word an obscenity on her gentle lips

Drake smiled at her. "Having a taste," he said, pulling her arms from around his neck and watched her wiggle back to a proper sitting position.

She made a beeline for the mirror, pulling her hair aside to examine the latest attack on her throat before her shaking hands fumbled for a drawer that contained her collars. Nadia finally got the drawer open and pulled out a gleaming silver collar.

Seeing it, Drake growled, dropping the notebook again. He stepped forward and grabbed the collar, yanking it from her.

"Hey, that's mine!" She hissed.

"Yes it is, isn't it?" he asked mockingly, keeping the collar out of her reach. There would be no need for those things now that he'd marked her.

"I rather need that, I've lived here two years without a vampire chewing on my neck and I want to keep it that way!"

"Well that's just too bad," he said, licking his lips. "It isn't permanent. It's to ensure that, while you're gone, no one tries to bite you. That mark has me written all over it."

"I don't care, I don't want any more love bites or bruises on my body today."

"There won't be."

Nadia just growled and grabbed another collar from the drawer, rolling over to pack it in her bag, absently taking back the notebook he wanted so much.

Drake shrugged and turned to leave, deciding to mess with her later.

Zipping up the bag, Nadia pulled it on her lap and beat him to the door.

He shook his head at her hurry to leave, partly understanding her haste.

A minute or two later, she was out the front door and flying down the street.

Drake exited the redhead's room and walked off down the hallway. The vampire lord was lost in his thoughts, wondering what exactly had him so interested in her. To go after a human was a slight disgrace if they weren't willing to be turned and well... Nadia sure as hell was unwilling to be turned. Even though that frustrated him greatly, he enjoyed the challenge. He enjoyed watching her fight back and try to get him to back off. Her writing skills were something that surprised him; the poetry within that notebook had him admiring her.


	8. Quiet at last, or not

Author's note: Thank you Inu-midoriko for all your help, and thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. I hope that this chapter was worth the wait. If you would like to read up on which works are in progress and on future updates, please check out my website's blog. I will reply to all comments you post.

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Taking a deep breath, Nadia enjoyed the feeling of the sun on her face as she rolled down the street in her wheelchair. She was happy to get away from Drake and all of the other vampires at the tower. Galen hadn't exactly been happy that she had left, but he had also understood her rather desperate need for a break from everybody.

Besides, Galen knew there were a few things that Nadia had to take care of before she went back to the tower…

Still, Nadia tried to be careful; she wasn't taking any chances that she was being followed. The last thing she needed was Drake figuring out who her real friends were and where she lived. Besides, she had enough problems already without Drake discovering her secrets.

First things first, Nadia drove her chair for about an hour until she reached a small nicely up kept home. Just seeing it made the tension go out of her body. Driving up to the front door, Nadia quickly unlocked it and went inside.

She didn't bother with lights as she entered the shadow-filled room, dumping her bag on the couch, Nadia reveled in the silence. Breathing slowly in and out, the redhead felt calmer and more clearheaded than she had been since they let Drake out.

A few hours later, she had cleaned the house as best she could and was ready to turn her attention to the next thing on her list.

Since she wasn't meeting with Abby until later that night, Nadia decided that she was going to continue working on the story that she had been writing. With a grin, she went over to the couch, took out the notebook that she had been writing in, and headed into her study. Flipping on the radio, she lost herself in her work.

It wasn't until her cell phone rang that the redhead came back to herself, shoved back out of the world that seemed more real than the one that she lived in with a shock that was almost painful.

"Hello?" She asked, feeling the throbbing start in her temples.

"Hey Nadia." Abby said, sounding serious.

"What's going on? Am I late?"

"No, no, but I thought I should warn you that Blade is rather unhappy at the moment. We had to tell him about your brother…"

"Oh shit…" Nadia swore, tilting her head back and shutting her eyes in thought. "So what should I be expecting exactly?"

"Bring your knives, but don't wear them. I'd also suggest long sleeves, just in case. We'll be with you, so he shouldn't rough you up too badly but…"

The redhead swallowed, but nodded to herself. "I understand." She said aloud. However, when she hung up the phone a few minutes later, she has shaking…

This boat stunk, or to be more precise, it wasn't the boat but the area around it. Blade ignored the smell, he had holed up is worse places than this before. At this moment, the Daywalker was grateful that his eyes were hidden behind the dark sunglasses that he wore to conceal that hated vampire trait.

The dark skinned man smelled the disgusting presence of his half brethren in the near by area. He could feel them watching, anticipating his every move, never taking their attention away from him. They were lurching in every corner, waiting for the opportunity to strike him, hoping they would overcome his every existence, knowing he would soon come for them.

He pretended not to notice their long piercing stares of hatred. His mind already occupied on what he'd learned about the twins. Why hadn't Galen turned Nadia yet? Could it be they had such a strong bond, such love and trust for each other, that it didn't matter that one was a vampire and other was still among the living? He had questions that had yet to be answered.

Blade averted his eyes from the darkening city to the falling sun over the horizon. It was a truly beautiful sight. All the different colors it brought into the sky. Of course, Blade would never share the fascination he had come to discover he had over the setting sun with anyone. It was hard to trust those you didn't know and even harder to trust those that you trusted the most.

His eye caught the slightest movement to left in the shadows. In a matter of seconds, his hand was on his gun and aiming for the vampire hiding behind the shadows. His eyes never swayed away from his enemy as he studied the bloodsucker.

"My, my, aren't you the quick one?" said Drake when he finally opened his eyes. The piercing red orbs glowed in the shadows, but Blade could tell he was smirking.

Seeing Drake, Nadia silently began to chant every curse word that she knew, and made up a few other nasty one as well just for some much needed stress relief. The redhead stayed where she was in the alleyway as she tried to control the racing of her heart. Nadia did not like the looks of this at all.

Blade's unemotional face stayed in place, not showing any signs of fear as the vampire lord stepped closer to the dark skinned man.

Drake listened to the calm rhythmic beat of Blade's heart. "You are a brave one, Blade." Drake's smirk never faulted.

"No, I'm just stubborn." The venom in Blade's voice was obvious to the vampire. Drake's amusement went up a spark.

"Is it stupidity or a high ego that allows you to stand your ground?"

"I'll let you take that guess." Blade said as he studied the bloodsucker's approach. The disgusting creature was getting closer. Blade cocked his gun as a warning for Drake to stop and back off.

Drake heeded the warning but laughed. "You can not kill me with that. You should know that better than anyone."

"I'll take my chances."

"It's a pity you are only half the vampire you could be."

"That's an insult, bloodsucker. I have better things to do then waste my time taking the life out of humans."

Drake gave another spine-shivering chuckle.

Nadia fought the urge to shout as she backed up carefully deeper into the shadows. 'Goddess, please make that dragon go away, I can't do this on my own. However, I need Blade's aid too much to be careless now!' She thought as she forced herself to take deep cleansing breaths to calm herself. The redhead knew that she had to stay unnoticed; otherwise, all hell would break loose.

The sun was just about gone from the sky. Drake was teasing Blade; he knew that much, he was just trying to see what made him on edge and what sparked a bit of fear.

Blade saw through it, just like an open book test a test. There was no way in hell the bloodsucker was going to get a reaction out of him.

"What would you say if you could become a full fledged bloodsucker?" Drake asked, his smirk widening.

The dark skinned man gave no reply, no sign he had heard Drake. The vampire then suddenly seemed to disappear and returned behind Blade. Drake touched Blade's shoulders and raked a claw down Blade's neck.

Again, the vampire listened to his heartbeat. It was still pumping in its same rhythmic beat. Blade had his gun pressed to Drake's abdomen. It may not kill him but at least it would repel him back.

'That does it!' Nadia couldn't take it anymore and whipped out her cell phone. Dialing Abby's number, she waited impatiently, praying with all of her soul that the vampire lord couldn't smell her scent or hear her heartbeat. When Abby picked up, the redhead quickly explained what was going on in a low tense voice. Once assured that reinforcements were on their way, Nadia clicked her phone shut and waited, her pulse beating too hard in her throat. She was scared to watch, but even more afraid to look away.

The moon was just rising and the sky just turned dark. Drake was far too amused by the situation at hand to notice a second heartbeat in the area. The vampire lord glanced down at the gun aimed at his abdomen.

"You wish to shoot me, Blade?" Drake made his voice sound hurt, but Blade knew differently.

"Move away."

Drake lingered on for a moment then stepped back and reappeared in front of the vampire hunter. "It's a wonder how I can get so close and yet your heart insists on staying the same rhythm."

Blade remained motionless, not bothering to answer.

'Will that Dragon go away any time soon!' She thought in a panic, her heartbeat racing excessively fast to be entirely healthy as she continued to watch all her careful work go down the drain. 'I really hope that Blade doesn't blame this meeting on me...' Nadia tried to swallow around the tightness in her throat and felt tears sting her eyes against the burning pain she felt.

Another heartbeat had Drake's senses spring to attention. This heartbeat was fast and pounding hard. He hid his moment of surprise with a smirk before hearing footsteps nearby in the darkness. "It seems our time together has run short."

Blade remained silent.

"We'll meet again."

"I'll be waiting." Was Blade's only reply before Drake vanished into the darkness.

Nadia found to her surprise that her hands were as cold as ice and trembling so badly that the redhead could barely drive her wheelchair into the light. "Are you all right Blade?" She managed to ask around the tightness in her throat, her blue eyes were dark with fear as she halted two feet from the Daywalker, a part of her was ready to bolt if it was needed.

Blade didn't answer right away. His eyes behind his sunglasses were calm. After a moment or two, he turned his head towards Nadia. "I'm fine." By this time, the moon was high in the sky and the stars were out.

Her heart froze but she took a deep breath, gathering her courage. "Abigail said that you wished to speak to me?" She asked, making it a question since she wasn't sure exactly what he wanted, feeling oddly naked without her knives on her person.

"There are a number of questions I want answered." Said Blade. The moon reflected off his sunglasses.

Nadia tried in vain to get her heart under control. She took a deep breath to try to soothe her nerves. "All right." The redhead tried her hardest to look calm and composed, and was relieved that her heart rate was finally going back to normal. "Ask away, and I will do my best to answer them as honestly as I am able."

"First question: why did you not kill off your brother when he turned? You had many opportunities. Is your love for him that strong that you could not bring yourself to rid him of his misery?"

Her eyes darkened, but her voice remained calm. "My brother is all I've got, and the reverse is also true. He could have killed me when he woke up after he was turned, but he didn't. Galen has never raised his hand against me then and he hasn't done it now."

Blade's disgust grew though he said nothing towards her answer. "The Nightstalkers: Why do you help them? Why is it you are living with the bloodsuckers?"

Her eyes darkened further, and her voice became even colder. "We live with the vampires because we needed their resources at first in order to track someone down. After that, we decided to stay there for two reasons: One, we didn't have anywhere else to go, and the second reason was that we wanted to keep an eye on what the others were doing. I help the Nightstalkers because I know they have a way to turn vampires back into humans."

"And if you get the opportunity, will you change your beloved brother back into a human? What if there is a chance of the cure not working? Will you experiment on your brother and risk his already dead life?"

"You don't understand. My older brother never wanted to be a vampire. The only thing that kept him alive and sane was that I promised him I would find a cure for him."

"Your brother is fortunate to have a devoted sister like you to keep him sane." Blade looked off to the city. "The only thing that kept me from the nut house is the fact I am only half a monster."

The redhead shrugged, but a haunted look crept in her topaz blue eyes. "He protected me, now I'm protecting him. I made him a promise, and I refuse to break it. If the Nightstalkers don't have a cure that works, I'll find someone else that will." Was all she said.

"Determined aren't you? Why has His Lordliness been awakened?"

"I would have thought you'd have figured that out by now. Daywalker against Daywalker. If Danica and the others play their cards right, they think that Lord Dragon will make them as perfect as he is." Nadia replied, shuddering slightly.

Blade snorted in disgust. "They should know better. A creature like him shouldn't be trusted, no matter how powerful he is. They must be desperate." The dark skinned man finally looked at Nadia.

Nadia was nodding her agreement. "They are, I've seen Asher piss his pants at the mention of your name and Danica has a hissy fit while breaking everything in her line of sight."

Blade's face scrunched in disgust. "Disgusting creatures." A beeping of a car could be heard from the city. "Do you trust the bloodsuckers?"

"Only my brother and I don't call him a bloodsucker. Other then that, I do what I need to do. Sometimes I play errand girl, sometimes I play assistant. You'd be surprised at how many vampires are like my brother." She shrugged.

"All of them are beasts. None are worth saving."

"If you look at it that way, you are just as bad as them."

Blade's temper flashed briefly, though unseen, behind his sunglasses. "There is a great difference between them and me."

"Not really. Some of the ones who are turned were never interested in becoming vampires in the first place." She replied, heat tingeing her tone of voice.

Blade got control over his temper and replied with a tinge of scorn. "That may be, but you don't see most of them trying to do the right thing either." Faint angry yelling could be heard from the city.

Nadia's head snapped around, she had heard the yelling too. "That's true, but then, they don't know about the cure either." Her eyes grew dark and concerned, and her fingers circled the ball of her wheelchair's joystick nervously.

Blade concentrated on the yelling for a few moments. "Go back to your brother, Nadia. I have other things to attend to. We will talk again." With that, Blade walked off.

"Kill a few for me too Blade." She called softly as she spun her chair around and drove away. "I'd join you if it didn't blow my cover."

Blade had heard her, but didn't acknowledge it. 'She's a strange one. How can she still love someone who is turned into a beast? She could be useful to me. We'll just see how everything goes and if my opinion changes about her.' Blade's features softened just the slightest bit. 'Her brother is lucky to have someone like her to love him.'

The redhead was thoughtful as she carefully made her way back to the house. 'Well, I'm still breathing and I haven't gotten beat up... I wonder if he'll explain about his serum. It might be useful until I can figure out if the cure really works. Meanwhile, I have a few days now to actually get some work on my novel…'

Blade unexpectedly showed up at Abby's door later that night and knocked three times. He waited for a moment before Abby's voice came through the door asking him to hold on a second. She opened the door and greeted him with a quick smile before it faded. "What do I owe the pleasure of seeing you tonight?"

"You know the girl Nadia?" Blade didn't wait for an answer. "I want to know if she lives anywhere else besides with the vampires."

"Her brother bought her a house about an hour's walk away from the vamps." Abby replied.

The Daywalker nodded his thanks and left.

"Hey Blade! Do you want me to come along and give you directions?" Abby called, sticking her head out the door. She was frowning slightly, thinking that it might be a good idea to call ahead so Nadia didn't try to bash him in the head with a frying pan.

Blade paused, now realizing that he had no idea where to go. "Yeah, that would be good."

"Okay, Let me call her first. King's still got a egg sized bump from the last time he dropped by without calling first. Lucky it was her and not Galen who answered the door..." Abby said as she armed herself and grabbed her cell phone.

He snorted at King's stupidity and waited while Abby caught up to him. The moon was up high by this time, shining down on the two of them as they made their way to Nadia's house.

As they walked, Abby called Nadia, then burst out laughing at something Nadia said. After a few minutes of chit-chat, she hung up. "We're cool. Nadia promises not to hit you."

"I feel honored to know that information." Blade answered sarcastically. Abby didn't reply so Blade decided to ask her a question. "How do you and Nadia know each other?"

"I went to high school with both of the twins, When Galen was turned, I was the first person she called to get help." Abby said, all laughter gone now from her face. "That was when I knew Nadia trusted me."

"Trust is valuable. There aren't many people anyone can trust anymore." Blade said in a deadpan voice.

Abby nodded. "They know that better than anyone." She said quietly, stopping to kill a vampire in an alleyway.

Blade stopped walking to let her finished the job she started. He scanned the area for anymore lurking, waiting to attack. "What do you know about Drake?" Asked Blade when he sensed no other vampires were going to try to attack.

"Whatever rumors or info Nadia's been able to get." Abby replied, continuing on their way.

"What about Galen?"

"I haven't seen him since he was turned and took her to the vampires' nest with him. He never did like me very much, but he's grateful that I'm friends with Nadia I think."

"Why doesn't he like you?"

"I don't know, never asked him. I will say this though; he's still as protective of his little sister as ever. He dusts any vampire who tries to touch her in a manner he doesn't like."

"He won't get rid of Drake as easily as he would like."

"Yeah, and he's not liking that at all, that's why Nadia's at the house for a bit just to give her a break. Galen's about ready to move her to the other side of the planet he's so mad." Abby smiled slightly, turning the corner to enter the quiet neighborhood.

Blade wondered if Drake had tried anything on Nadia. She didn't seem the type to just take what he throws at her. "Galen should let her take care of herself. She isn't as weak as most people would assume."

"It's a habit for them I think. They don't really talk about their past much. I don't even know who turned Galen. The only thing they told me was that they 'took care of him' a few months ago." Abby shrugged.

"I see." Blade was silent for a few minutes. If you could have seen Blade's eyes behind his glasses, you would have seen he looked thoughtful.

Abby didn't say anything, she turned and walked up the driveway to the nicely kept ground level home and rang the doorbell.

The door opened slowly, Nadia looked very young with her fine red-gold hair loose and falling carelessly around her face. Behind her copper frames, her eyes were a mystery as she backed up to let them in.

Blade eyed her as he stepped past her. He had to admit, she looked stunning. He didn't blame Drake for wanting to bed the redhead, though he had other more important things to do than gawk over a young woman in her home so he took his gaze away from her to examine her home. He said nothing as he waited for Nadia to close the door. When she did so, he followed her and Abby into another room.

The home didn't have much in it, but then, neither of the twins actually needed very much. Nadia closed the door quietly and her wheelchair buzzed softly as she led them into the living room. The couch that she gestured for them to take a seat on was a rich chocolate brown that was soft to the touch. To avoid her growing unease, Nadia with seeming calm pulled her hair back, ignoring the soft but painful popping of the joints in her right hand as her fingers jerked themselves into motion. Once her hair was pulled back away from her expressionless face, she looked at Blade with eyes that showed nothing of her feelings. "Well Blade, I'm assuming that this isn't a social call."

"I want to know about your brother and the blood sucker known as Drake."

Her blue eyes turned cold. "Such as? You'll have to be a bit in depth Blade. Abigail, have you eaten?" When Abby shook her head, Nadia smiled slightly. "Go raid the fridge, there's some leftover pizza from earlier in there."

"What type person is your brother?" Blade glanced at Abby as she walked into the kitchen to get pizza.

"Protective and gentle, but he doesn't mess around when something has to be done. Galen doesn't really trust anybody, save me." She replied calmly, trying to see where this was going.

"I see, and Drake?"

"He's powerful, and too cunning for my comfort. If you're gonna kill him, do it fast." She said, looking away slightly, hiding her feelings.

Blade noticed this and eyed her. "Have you developed feelings for him, Nadia?" He watched her reaction and saw Abby freeze on the spot.

The coldness in her eyes suddenly turned to white-hot anger, even as she reached behind her and pulled out the sharp silver-bladed knife that she always carried in the small of her scarred back. "Would you like to rephrase that question while you still have your health?" She asked with deadly calm in her voice.

The Daywalker sat calmly where he was watching her closely. "You heard it right. Put your knife away Nadia, it's only a question."

Instead of putting the knife away, she laid it in her lap instead with her fingers not far from the hilt. "The only feeling I have for the Dragon Lord is fear. He's not like the other vampires, a few hundred years of inbreeding and thinning of the bloodlines have seen to that."

"Is that so? Perhaps you wouldn't mind me asking if he has tried taking you to his bed?" Blade braced himself for her reaction. The redheaded princess had one hell of a temper.

"More then once, and Galen wasn't pleased at all." She answered tightly, her slender fingers of the left hand curled slowly around her knife while her right tightened involuntarily into a fist. "He tried, but has not succeeded. I must admit, if he wasn't so transparent, he could be quite charming if he had a mind to do so."

"Are you planning on using that knife?" Blade said, noticing her hand curl around the knife.

"A reflex. If I was going to use it on you, you'd know it." She replied.

Blade gave no reply to that. He glanced at Abby coming in from the kitchen.

"What else do you want to know?" She asked, slowly relaxing as she saw that Abby had a plate of pizza, even as her stomach gave a silent reminder that she hadn't eaten yet either.

He decided not to test her patience any longer. He stood, "Not for the moment. We will talk later." He got up and started to walk to the door.

"Blade, would you object to letting me have a vial of your serum?" She asked carefully, nodding to Abby to let her know that she could take the pizza with her. "I like Summerfield, but I want to know exactly what your serum contains, and she hardly leaves the boat."

"I don't mind, let me know when you'd like a vial." And with that he left.

Abby sat on the coach, where Blade has sat. "So, what do you think of him?"

"To be honest Abigail, I don't know. I really didn't want to bring Blade into this at all, so I'm taking a gamble and hoping it'll pay off, 'cause I'm running out of time. Galen's Thirst gets stronger every day..." Nadia put her knife away, looking worried.

Abby took a bite into her piece of pizza. "He's not all that bad really, just a little hard about trusting people."

"I know that, but you can't blame me for being afraid of the unknown Abigail." Nadia answered, letting down her hair again and moving into the kitchen to get some pizza for herself, as they had interrupted her dinner.

"No, I guess you're right. Have any plans tomorrow?"

"I was hoping to get some headway done on my book. I've been arguing with Danica nonstop since they let the Dragon Lord out of his cage, so I haven't got much done. He hasn't left me alone since the day he saw me, and I'm going nuts." She answered, eating her pizza quickly, as though she was afraid that somebody would take it from her.

"Slow down on the food before you give yourself a stomachache. Danica can go to hell and take Drake with her."

Nadia slowed down, but not much. "Sorry, it's a habit. I agree with you though. Galen says that she kicked the Dragon out of her bed, though she says otherwise, and that's why I'm being chased."

"He doesn't stop when you tell him to does he?" Abby asked, her brown eyes growing angry, already suspecting the answer.

"Not unless he finds something more interesting to do he doesn't. He's already ruined one of my favorite dresses before I left." She replied tonelessly.

"Mmm. Why doesn't Galen try to do something about it?"

"Galen won't risk endangering me. The Dragon has already warned us that if Galen interferes again, we both die. That was when I left." Was Nadia's careful reply.

"I see. Well take it easy." Abby finished off her pizza. "What do you and Galen plan to do when he is turned human again?"

"Relocate. We want to start fresh. Galen wants to concentrate on his artwork and finally get into art school, and I want to be able to get my creative writing degree while I continue being published." Nadia shook her head. "We've been lucky so far, but I don't want to push things. The dragon got into my personal notebook and was more than a little mad when he read what I wrote."

"That's good, planning ahead like that, I mean. What are you going to write about next?"

"I'm in the late stages of a first draft for my first novel; Galen's been very good about letting me have time to myself, even though it cuts into his work. The other vampires however, are not so accommodating."

"Well it's a good thing you also have here as a place to work."

The redhead sighed sadly. "Abigail you've chosen your side. For my brother's sake, I cannot openly serve one side or the other. For the past two years, I've been keeping one eye on what I'm doing and the other eye on what's going on behind me. I hate knives more than you know, yet I must use them, as they are the only weapon I am able to use. Not to mention watching the brother I love the most suffer every time he must taste blood..."

"Spoken wisely. Galen is lucky to have someone like you to look after him."

Nadia smiled sadly. "He is my twin brother; we are two halves of the same whole. There is nothing I wouldn't do for him, and nothing he wouldn't do for me."

"Well if there's anything you need, you have me."

She nodded. "I know. Thanks for the reminder. You better go before Blade comes back and breaks down my door looking for you." The redhead looked tired but content.

"That would be a sight to see." Abby looked amused. She hugged her dear friend goodbye. "Make sure you get enough sleep." And with that she left.

"I'll try, but not just yet. There are things that I must finish first." Nadia said quietly, unheard by her friend as she finished her own pizza before heading towards her office to get to work.


	9. Coming home to T R O U B L E

Author's note: Thank you Inu-midoriko for all your help. I would also like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

* * *

Three days went by without any word from Nadia, and Galen was becoming increasingly waspish. Asher was sulking, and Danica looked like a cat that had gotten in the cream.

Drake had become increasingly sulky in those three days as well. He didn't know what it was about her presence but he missed it. Though he kept to himself and remained quiet when in the presence of the other vampires.

Still, during that time, Galen never touched his cell phone or gave anybody else the number.

Asher had asked once, and Galen nearly took his head off.

Galen's behavior had caught Drake's attention. He was curious as to why the young vampire was acting so violently. It confused him to say the least.

The young vampire warrior was currently in his office fuming when Drake walked by, stopping a few steps away from the door. He tilted his head wondering whether or not to knock or just leave the vampire alone.

"Stupid Asher, no wonder Nadia left. Between him and Drake, I just wonder how she could stand it for so long..." He grumbled.

Drake had heard that through the door and sighed. He didn't feel like approaching Galen when he was pissed off.

Nadia returned a half an hour later, smiling quietly. Heading towards the elevator, she pressed the button for the proper floor.

"Galen! I'm back!" She called when the doors opened again.

Drake glanced up and over at her. He was still standing in front of the door to her brother's office.

Galen flew out of his office "Nadia!" he bellowed and ran to her, almost crushing her in a hug.

Drake nearly fell over, trying to dodge the swinging door. "Damnit," he said, regaining his balance.

Nadia was laughing as her brother dropped the bag next to her chair and picked her up, swinging her in a circle, saying something in her ear. "Okay Okay. I promise!" She grinned.

Drake raised an eyebrow at the display, head tilted. "Well isn't that sweet."

Chuckling, Galen tenderly put her back in her chair and gave her back her bag. Beaming, Nadia drove away. She went into her room, heaving the now heavy bag on her bed. "Whew! I need to work out more... That was heavy!"

Drake had followed her and was standing in the doorway. "You fill that bag with too much stuff." he said quietly, glancing down the hall at Galen. "It's a wonder that it hasn't burst at the seams."

"Most of it's work. Lan is really piling it on me."

"Lan?" he asked curiously, eyes returning to her face. "I guess a writer gets no breaks, yeah?"

"It is the air we breathe and the rich blood in our souls." Nadia answered, as she started to remove notebooks and a few very stuffed folders.

"That was lovely," he stated, smiling slightly. "Explains a lot."

"It wasn't meant to explain anything." She replied firmly.

Drake shrugged. "Whether or not you meant it to explain anything, it explained some things."

Finally emptying her bag, she dropped it next to the foot of the bed, eyeing the pile of paperwork in front of her in the center of it.

"That doesn't look like fun," Drake stated, walking over and picking up one of the stuffed folders. The papers within it threaten to spill out.

"Put that down right this minute!" She snapped out.

Drake raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to do anything to it," he said, still holding it firmly in his hands.

"Put it down, I'm not though with reading over that stack yet."

Drake smiled despite himself and dropped the stack back on the bed. Some of the papers spilled out of the folder as it hit the bed.

The redhead swore as she moved quickly over to the bedside, putting the papers back in. Muttering choice words under her breath, she gathered up the folders and put them safely in a drawer, then did the same with her notebooks.

He wasn't enthused with her being away so long and certainly wasn't happy she was wearing the collar again. Without thinking, he stepped forward and grabbed her chin.

Nadia winced, but looked directly at him.

"Take the collar off," he commanded with a wicked smirk on his lips.

"I'd rather not thank you." She said slowly.

"I wasn't asking you, my dear," Drake said, his other hand at her neck now.

She shook her head. "The bruises just healed there, I don't want another set."

Drake tilted his head, his smirk faltering. The hand resting on the side of her neck was loose against the cool silver.

The redhead reached up and, with effort, pried his hand off of her chin so that she could talk normally.

"Come now Nadia, there's no need for that." he said eyeing the collar like it was his worst enemy.

'Thank Vesta for the collar...' She thought, raising a fine flame colored eyebrow in silent question, but didn't try to pull her hand out of his.

Drake smirked, thinking that she's giving up, giving in. "You are aware I hate this thing," he said lowly, hand fiddling with the collar around her neck. "Why exactly do you wear this?"

"Except for you, all vampires are allergic to silver, garlic, and sunlight."

"Is that so? Well lucky for me then."

"It's a matter of common sense. While I'm wearing this collar, I won't be a vampire's next meal."

Drake tilted his head, eyebrows raised. He was enjoying the feel of her hand in his, but was really starting to think he had gone mental. The father of vampires sighed, getting tired of looking down at her. His hand moved down and unbuckled her seatbelt. He smiled at her, picking her up. "It may also be because other vampires are weaklings." he stated.

Nadia yelped, there was no other word for the sound that came out of her mouth. "Put me back in my chair." She said her heart pounding. The redhead felt far from safe in his arms.

"I'm tired of looking down at you," Drake said, holding her tightly.

"You had no reason to take me out of my chair." She replied, staying very still.

"I told you I was tired of looking down at you. It's rather rude don't you think?" he stated, smiling at her.

"I thought you would have came to your senses while I was gone."

"Well imagine that, Dracula hasn't come to his senses," he drawled sarcastically.

Nadia snarled. "You already have a consort."

"You actually think Danica..." he trailed off, eyebrows raised. Then he laughed at that. "Surprisingly... I don't exactly go after her anymore."

"You've managed to keep her interests for almost a whole week, that's a feat in and of itself." She pointed out.

Drake laughed bitterly. "Yea right," he said, glaring at her. "Really that's just because I'm the lord of all vampires. It doesn't go beyond that."

"And you expected less because..."

He shrugged. He didn't really have an answer for that.

Nadia shifted. "You could do worse than Danica."

"Yes worse," he said shaking his head. "I'd rather have better."

"Good luck with that then, because it's not me."

"And why not?" he asked, a hint of a grin on his features.

"Because I'm not a vampire, and I'm not about to become one either."

"I didn't say I was going to turn you."

"You won't remain the vampire lord for long if you don't get your goals straight."

"What can I say," he said quietly, smirking at her. "My goals are my goals. They can change. If someone has a problem I'll kill them."

"Men!" She snorted.

He raised an eyebrow at that.

"Men only think about three things: food, sex, and violence." She added.

"Valid point, princess."

The redhead just shook her head, trying to wiggle out of his tight hold. She wanted back into the relative safety of her wheelchair. Her left hand started to carefully inch towards her leg, hoping to get at the knife hidden in her jeans.

Drake chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "And that hand is moving where?" he questioned, holding her a little tighter.

"Ouch! That hurts. You're rings are digging into my back!" Nadia said. Being held by a vampire was like being held by a corpse.

"My apologies." he said and loosened his grip so that his rings no longer dug into her back.

Nadia frowned up at him. "You can put me back in my chair now."

"I could. If I wanted to."

"I don't like being pulled out of my chair like a sack of potatoes."

"Yes well it's not my fault you are so light."

"Galen weighs more than I do."

"He is also a lot bigger than you."

"At least he doesn't cause a panic in the doctor's office..." She muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Drake growled lowly at her and let her go.

She breathed a sigh of relief and put her seatbelt back on

He growled silently, disappointed. He glanced over at the bed briefly than back at Nadia.

Nadia moved back toward her dresser, seemed to hesitate, than reached for a drawer. Taking out a key, she swept her hair aside and unlocked her collar from behind.

Drake raised an eyebrow, watching her.

She looked at the collar, than put it down along with the key. "I hate that thing."

Drake shrugged. "Well than don't wear it..."

"I don't really have a choice in the matter. Galen can't baby-sit me all the time, and I can't exactly kill all the vampires in sight, although that idea has appealed to me more than once." She said, keeping her back still to him. Nadia picked up her hairbrush and started to run it though her fiery locks, getting rid of any tangles that he may have put there as she watched him in the mirror.

His eyes drifted down to her neck. The bruising there had faded and he also noticed that his little love nip was gone. 'I should really bite harder next time.' he thought

Smiling, Nadia put down the brush, though her smile faded when she saw him still standing there. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" She asked.

Drake shook his head slightly. "Do I?"

"Yes, out of my room." She said flatly.

"Sadly I don't see that happening."

Still looking in the mirror, she used one of the more vile phases in her vocabulary to tell him what she thought of that.

Drake chuckled harshly, loving that she was playing into his taunting.

She frowned and drove to her laptop, turning it on.

"Well aren't you feisty…" he said quietly, glancing at the laptop. He cocked his head to the side and glared at it.

"This is my personal space, and you aren't welcome in it. I'm sick of fighting Danica about it. If I have to, I'll just move out."

"Danica?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware she was causing problems." He didn't want her to leave. He'd rather have Danica leave. Quietly. Drake came up behind her and placed his hands on her slender shoulders. "You are not leaving."

Her eyes flashed. "If I want to leave, that's my choice."

"Yes, but it doesn't guarantee that I'll leave you alone."

"You don't know where I live."

"I'd find you anyway."

"You have better things to do."

"No I don't."

"Yes, like going after Blade for one thing."

"Oh right. Yes, I forgot about that little parasite. I'd get to him eventually."

"Not my fault if vampires don't know the meaning of self control."

Drake shrugged. "Most vampires lose that ability when they are turned."

Nadia shrugged back, and leaned forward to type something on the keyboard, trying to get his hands off her.

His grip on her shoulders tightened. "What are you doing anyway?"

"Checking something." She didn't ask why he wanted to know.

Drake was confused and that was not something he enjoyed being. She wasn't responding to his attentions and didn't seem to notice him as a male. It annoyed him that the redhead had gotten under his skin. Regardless of what he was feeling, he loosened his grip.

She used that opportunity to boot up her internet connection. Grateful he seemed to be losing interest.

He smirked and took his hands off her shoulders. He had just had one of the most amusing thoughts.

Nadia watched the screen intently, tapping her slender fingers impatiently on the desk.

He glanced over at the blinds to make sure they were closed. They were and he smirked again. He went over to the door and closed it, locking it as well.

At this point Nadia was reading something and muttering softly under her breath, then signed off looking disgusted. "Drat."

He glanced over at her, leaning against the door. "Something wrong?"

"Just my bosses being idiots."

He grunted in response, not really caring about her bosses.

"I'll say, they want the next batch in three days, and the mound of paperwork retyped by the end of the week." The redhead shook her head. "I won't get a lot of sleep, but it'll pay off."

"Need... help?" he asked, smirking.

"I can't. Sorry. Editing is a personal process. Besides, Danica and Asher would go up a wall. This is, if they aren't still on the kitchen floor..."

"They're still on the kitchen floor," Drake said, grimacing at the mental picture. He shook his head. "I personally don't care if they go up the wall. It's quite fun to watch."

"Maybe it's funny to you, but not to me." Nadia rolled away from her desk. "I don't have a death wish."

He smiled at her, pushing away from the door.

"Are you going now?" She asked, reaching for the collar again.

"No," he said, smirking.

"Too bad. You don't want my brother in here, you really don't."

Drake shrugged, looking bored with the thought of Galen storming in here to confront him. If anything, the confrontation would amuse him.

"What in the world do you want with me anyways? I would have thought be now that you would have found other interests... Such as learning how to avoid arrows and bullets." The grin on her sweet face wasn't nice. Nadia's grin turned into a smirk. The collar dangled loosely from her hand.

Drake noticed the collar and yanked it from her grip. He looked at it before his gaze fell on her again.

"Why did you do that?"

Gazing at her intensely, Drake smiled. His eyes fell to stare at her throat. "I don't want you wearing this in my presence. Your skin is too lovely to hide." He said, still smiling in an odd way.

"I hide it for my own protection." She told him, feeling her pulse hammer in her throat, trying to ignore how naked she felt at that moment.

He moved closer to her, smile still in place. "You don't need to hide it from me."

"You are a vampire. That's reason enough."

Drake placed his hands on the arms of her wheelchair. "True," he said lowly. "But you've got such lovely skin…" One of his hands reached out and he ran his fingers along her throat.

Nadia flinched back. "I want to keep it that way too."

Drake's hand stopped at the base of her neck. "I hope you do." Against his hand, her pulse raced. He felt her pulse race under his palm and rubbed her neck lightly.

Nadia's eyes were all pupil now, and she seemed frozen in place.

He tilted his head, smirking. He was able to sense her fear, see it in her blue-gray eyes. 'She hides it well,' he thought, hand trailing up the side of her neck. 'But not well enough.' He loved her fear, but wondered if she trusted anyone besides her brother. He growled quietly at that.

It was that growl that brought a frightened Nadia back to her senses. She snarled softly, showing teeth that almost looked like small fangs.

"Now that's cute," Drake said, smirking.

"Remove your hands. Now." This wasn't a request.

"You do not order me," he snarled, his hand tightening around her throat. "You do not have that authority." His other hand shot up and he dug his fingernails into her skin.

"You just demonstrated why I wear the collar." Her voice was smug, even as she winced in pain.

"I didn't use my fangs," he said lowly.

Nadia just glared at him in answer.

His other hand moved and grabbed a fist full of her soft, red hair.

She hissed and her eyes flashed in pain.

"What, no come back?" he asked mockingly.

"Why would I give you that power?"

He growled at her, flexing his fingers in her hair. He enjoyed the feel of it. He had always had a thing for redheads…

Nadia tried to move her head, trying to free herself from him. "Let. Go. Of. Me."

"No."

Nadia tried to hit him again.

He caught her fist in his other hand and squeezed.

Her face went white in pain, and her full pink lips pressed tightly together.

Drake wanted to jerk her from her chair into his arms. The urge to do that and throw her on the bed to show her just who was boss was driving him nuts. He was fighting with himself, wondering if he should or not.

The redhead was trying to remove her hand from his while her other hand was trying to pry his hand out of her red-gold locks. If she could just get her left hand free, she'd be able to get at one of her knives…

His grip on her hand and hair tightened with his frustration.

"Ow!" She said, freezing her movements.

He was still arguing with himself. He couldn't decide what he should do. It was making him even more pissed off.

She scooted forward slightly and tried to kick him.

Drake felt her kick him and that brought him back from his thoughts. He snarled at her. "Stay still."

"Then let go of me."

He growled deeply in his chest, finally snapping, Her jerked her up, snapping her seatbelt.

"Ouch! Now that really hurt!" She said, dazed for a moment as her body banged up against his.

He kept his hand in her hair, the other releasing her hand and grabbing at her waist.

This time she pulled out one of the knives that were hidden under her jeans. "I asked you to leave."

"And your point?" he stated throwing her down on the bed. He smirked at her, snatching the knife away. "You have a lot of these don't you?"

"Of course I do." She snapped, bouncing on the bed. "I have to defend myself."

"Logical." he said glancing over at her.

Nadia twisted her body into an upright position, fury bright in her eyes.

"Do I sense anger?" he asked, mockingly. He sat down on the edge of the bed and smirked at her.

"I don't like being thrown." She snapped, concentrating on keeping her balance.

He looked down at her, eyes running up and down her body.

The redhead twisted her body, trying to kick him again.

He chuckled, blocking her weak kick with his forearm. He was having fun passing the time with her.

She snarled and kicked out again, harder this time.

He blocked it again and growled at her. He got up on the bed and hovered over her. "Play nice, sweet Nadia."

"I don't play nice with vampires, a girl can get hurt that way." She ignored the chill that ran down her body at the look in his burning ruby eyes. "And don't call me that."

Drake leaned down and pinned her to the mattress. "I'll call you what I want, _sweet Nadia_."

Nadia hissed in pain. "Why?"

"Because I can. And it suits you...for the most part." he smirked down at her.

"Not good enough." She said, trying to twist out of his grip.

He growled pinning her down with more effectiveness, careful not to crush her, not yet anyways. He raised his eyebrows at her. "Why are you so intent on denying me?" he asked, curiously. "Any other woman would kill to be in your place." He ran his fingers gently down her neck.

"Well, I'm not other women. I'm not interested in somebody wrecking my bed." She said, trying not to shiver.

"All I did was throw you on it," he stated, smiling at her in an odd way.

"That's not all your interested in doing, and you know it." She snapped.

He ran his fingers along her skin again. "Yes I do."

"You won't be able to."

He smirked, chuckling. "Galen is a fool not to mark you," he stated, eyes locking with hers.

"I am not anyone's slave, not even my beloved twin's."

"We'll see about that."

"I doubt that."

He smiled at her. "I don't."

"What do you mean by that?" She snapped.

"Just think about it." he said, his mouth near her throat. "You're a smart girl."

"I am not your lover." She snapped, flinching away. "Danica can throw all the castoff men she wants in my direction, and I'm still not going to take the bait." Her hand was under the pillow, her fingers curling around one of her larger knives.

Drake glanced at her arm and shook his head. "And you bring her up because?"

"Because she told me she was going to be nice and 'share' you with me."

Drake growled quietly at that, sitting up and straddling her legs. "Share me? I am not property."

"To Danica, all men are propriety." She winced at his weight, silently ordering her legs to lock together, even though she was still clothed.

"What did you say in reply?"

"I'm not going to answer that when your crushing my legs."

Drake raised his eyebrow. He got up slightly, crouching over her and bringing relief to her legs.

"Thank you." She said, rolling to a side a little.

He nodded at her, raising his eyebrows. "Are you going to tell me?"

"I told her in a nutshell that when I wanted a partner, I would get one on my own and if she wanted you, she could have you." It wasn't a smart answer given the current situation, but it was an honest one. All the while, under the pillow, her fingers were still curled around her favorite knife.

Drake shrugged, raising his eyebrows. He was still crouched above her, hands on his thighs. "Witty remark, but not such a smart thing to say in this situation." he stated, smirking at her.

"It pissed her off."

"What doesn't piss that wench off?"

Nadia laughed. "A point."

He chuckled lowly, watching her. "It's funny to watch when you aren't the one she's mad at," he made an odd expression.

"Pathetic is more like it."

"Pathetic yes, but still funny."

"Galen says that too, but he's tone deaf, that's the only reason why he thinks it's funny."

"Tone deaf?" Drake questioned, hands dropping from his lap. "Guess I am too... Go figure that out."

Nadia smirked smugly.

Drake raised an eyebrow at her smug smirk and poked her stomach.

All humor gone now, Nadia tried to raise her knee where it would really hurt.

He felt her leg move and snapped his thighs together. "No need for that please."

"Don't poke me then."

"Why," he asked eyebrows raised. "Does it annoy you that much?"

"I don't weigh much, let's just put it that way."

"I did realize that awhile ago," he stated. "Considering I threw you so easily."

"When Danica tried to take me shopping her jaw dropped wide open when I told her my numbers."

"I can only imagine why," he said glancing down at her torso. "You really are a tiny thing."

"Four feet eleven inches, eighty-three pounds."

His jaw dropped slightly.

"Like I said, I don't weigh much. Actually, I only weigh myself when I go into the doctor's office."

Drake raised his eyebrows and smiled at her. "Tiny, tiny person."

"I hated gym in school. The teachers would all freak out getting my personal info."

"Heh, I think anybody would freak out."

She shrugged, or tried to. "It's my body. It's normal for me."

"Good for you."

"Thank you, I'm glad we agree, now please get off of me."

He chuckled quietly, admiring how she handled that. He rolled over and sat up on the edge of the bed.

Nadia sat up again, running a hand though her hair and smoothing down her shirt. She was very careful to keep her distance from him though. She had a hard time keeping her balance, and he was considerably heavier than she was. It felt like she was perched on the very edge of a cliff that she could fall over on her side at any minute.

Drake raised his eyebrows. Danica had all but seduced him into her bed, but Nadia didn't seem to get it. She didn't seem to have any idea what he really wanted from her. Wondering what exactly Galen had told her about having a partner, he leaned over slightly, put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer.

Nadia fell against him, off balance, and she glared at him. "I was sitting fine on my own thanks." she told him as her unbound hair caressed his skin.

"Looked you were about to fall over to me," he said, smiling at her.

"Only cause you pulled me off balance."

"Some men like it when a woman's off balance."

"Yeah I know. Most of them are busy with Danica though. She can have all the guys she wants, but she isn't touching one hair on my twin's head." Her voice was grim, almost threatening.

"You'd kill her wouldn't you?" he questioned, smirking. He chuckled quietly, picturing that.

"If she causes my Galen any harm once-so-ever, she'll be begging the Nightstalkers to finish her off." Came the flat reply.

"I can only imagine," he said, smiling. "You are a tough one, little girl."

"I have to be." A shadow fell across her eyes. "We weren't given any choice."

Drake raised his eyebrows, giving her a questioning look.

With a sigh, she took off her shirt and bent over, pushing her hair to one side. Nadia wore no bra, so Drake could completely see the fine lacework of scars that covered her from the base of her neck to her waistline.

Drake's eyebrows shot up momentarily after seeing her take off her shirt. His eyes focused on the scars that ran down her back. "What are these from?" he asked, running his fingers down her back. He traced the scars lightly.

"The monster who fathered us." There was no tone in her voice, even though her body trembled.

"Damn, he really is like me," Drake said quietly, fingers still tracing the scars.

"He wanted my brother, but I was unwelcome. From the moment we were born, my brother and I would not be separated. These scars were one of the ways that he tried to break us apart."

"That doesn't sound right even to me."

"My gentle brother was forced to watch him give me my 'lessons', and on one occasion he forced my brother to hold the knife himself."

Drake stared at her, shocked that a father would do that. He had done that before, but this just sounded sick.

"Our father named my brother after him. My brother might have been a dragon, but he was a gentle one."

"Gentle yet fiery," Drake murmured quietly. "Only a redhead." His hand was still on her back, tracing patterns.

Nadia flinched. "My brother and I changed our names after he destroyed our lives."

He stilled his hand on her back. He was staring at the side of her head, eyebrows raised.

"Nadia and Galen are names that we chose for ourselves." She said, putting her shirt back on. "Unlike Drake. We knew that names had meaning, and power."

"That's a very old belief. I thought it was forgotten, lost over the years," he said, pulling his hand back.

"Most people have, but not me. I loved school, unlike my brother. In my free time, I used to research old religions and beliefs."

"You are a very smart girl," he said smiling.

"When you are born was a disability, you have to adapt to use what you have."

Drake nodded, understanding what she meant. "Yes."

"Most people, even in your time, hated us."

"Cause you're crippled and," he gave her an odd look. "not like everyone else."

"More or less." She said, shifting. "Even now, we're in this world, but not quite..." Nadia's eyes widened, and she pressed her lips shut.

Drake raised his eyebrows when she trailed off. He looked at her, tilting his head.

She closed her eyes for a minute and took a steadying deep breath. When she opened them again, the vulnerability was gone, and her walls were firmly back in place.

Drake's eyebrows furrowed. He was disappointed and a little angry that the redhead had brought her walls back up.

With her walls back in place, she seemed not to notice him as she pulled her hair back though the collar of her t-shirt, balancing carefully on the edge of the bed with her tiny feet just brushing the floor.

Drake smirked playfully, pulling her back on her bed. His arm was around her shoulders, keeping her on the bed.

"Hey!" She said, trying to twist away, but unable to move much.

"Calm down," he said lowly, smirking at her. "I'm not going to do anything... yet."

Nadia snarled at the word 'yet', and her hand went right back under that pillow.

He quickly grabbed her hand and gently pulled it back to her side. "I wasn't serious, princess."

The redhead wiggled her hand out of his grasp, or she tried to.

His grip tightened slightly, keeping her hand in his.

"Is there any particular reason you won't let go of me?" The question was accompanied by a proud and defiant toss of her head.

"Keeping you from falling off this bed is one of them," he stated blankly, staring at her.

"I wasn't going to fall." She replied hotly.

"I know that," Drake said, smirking at her.

Nadia glared at him, pressing her lips together tightly.

He couldn't help but feel aroused. She was feisty and it felt good to have a woman like her close to him. He looked at her with a heated gaze.

She didn't say anything, but she shifted away from him slightly. Nadia was too proud to back down.

He let her move so he could drop his arm from her shoulders, to rest it on the small of her back.

The redhead hissed and tried to move away.

He dug his nails into her, clutching at her shirt. "Calm down," he said, all humor gone. The last thing he wanted was to scare her even farther away from him. She had shared personal information with him and he didn't want it to seem like he took it lightly.

"I don't think so, you're not adding my name to your list." Her voice was flat with conviction and she kept trying to move away from him.

"I wasn't aware I had a list," he retorted. "Perhaps someone else in this place, but not me."

The redhead flipped her fiery hair over her shoulder. "Well, I don't care whose doing it, I just don't want on it. I've lived twenty-one years this summer without a man in my bed, and I don't see any reason to change that now." She said curtly.

"Perhaps, but then again, perhaps you just never had the right man to accompany you to the bedroom." he asked lowly.

Nadia rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm not interested in sex. At all." She said flatly.

He raised an eyebrow, curious now. "Why?"

"I don't know, I'm just not."

"Do you even know what sex is?" he asked, giving her a weird look. 'How can you be twenty-one and not know that.' he thought

"Galen told me."

Drake raised his eyebrows, surprised.

"Even if he hadn't, they do teach sex in school nowadays." She added calmly.

Drake raised his eyebrows, surprised. He stared at her for a moment before smirking and lowering his mouth to her neck. He licked up her neck slowly, enjoying her taste and her smell.

Nadia stopped breathing, her breath seemingly thick in her throat. She couldn't control the fine tremors of fear that ran though her body.

She smelt like roses and surprisingly that didn't annoy him. He pulled his mouth away from her neck and smiled at her.

Eyes that were all pupil stared back at him, the fear not quite completely hidden on her face.

"I love fear," he murmured, still smiling. He lowered his head back down to her throat and nipped lightly.

Now she gasped and tried to push him away.

He glanced up at her, pulling her closer. "I can be gentle when I want to be," he whispered before going back to her neck.

"Your fangs are way too sharp, doesn't anybody file them down?" She asked, trying to move away.

He chuckled, holding her down. "Why would we do that?"

"So you don't accidentally bite your mates." She said, sounding as though it was obvious.

"Where's the fun and pleasure in that?" he said, nipping at her neck again.

The redhead growled and tried to push him off her again.

"Oh that's cute," he drawled sarcastically, licking where he had nipped at her pale skin. He dropped some of his weight on to her, keeping her still.

"Ow!" she said, her left hand going under the pillow again. "Stop that!" She commanded.

"I don't think so," he growled lowly. He placed a hand on either side of her, pinning her arms to her sides.

"Quit nipping me, I don't want to be turned." She shot back.

"Who said I was going to turn you?" he questioned, smiling at her.

"Why else do you keep going at my throat?" she asked trying to get her arm free.

"I can't have a taste?" he asked, chuckling.

"My blood belongs in my body, not out of it."

"Very true, pet. My, aren't you assertive." his eyes laughed down at her. "I won't turn you, Nadia. Not yet least. If I'm going to do it, you'd have to be willing to do it."

"Why don't you go back to Danica? She's impressed with you. I'm not."

"Everyone is impressed with me." he said, nipping at her neck again, leaving a mark. "The fact that you aren't intrigues me."

"Damn!" She swore. "I wish you wouldn't do that! I don't want a mark on me!"

"That's really too bad now isn't it."

"Why?" She asked, twisting her head aside, away from him.

He only smirked at her and snaked out his tongue. He wouldn't bite her. Not yet. He would, however, play with her. He brought his tongue to her pulse and licked down to her collarbones. He sucked and nipped gently at them before inching downwards.

"I will be glad when my brother and I finish our work here and leave." She snarled trying not to succumb to the sensations he was putting her through.

"By the time I'm done, you'll never want to leave me." he stated confidently before kissing the small swell of her breasts and sitting up. He looked down at her flushed face, a smug look to his expression, but didn't get off her.

"Get off me."

He grinned down at her, desire evident in his eyes but he obliged and slowly got off of her.

"Are you done? Because I'd really like to get in my chair now." she said heatedly.

He bowed mockingly at her but took the hint, lifted her from the bed and set her back in her chair.

"Thank you." She said calmly, unsure now what his game was.

He tilted his head, still smiling. Her uncertainty amused him and he chuckled lowly.

Shaking her head, she turned on her chair and started to move.

His eyes stayed on her, watching her closely.

"What?" She asked, going to get a collar from the drawer.

He raised an eyebrow, smirking at her. "I didn't say anything."

"I just don't see why you're so fascinated with me."

"I have my reasons."

Nadia shook her head, taking out a collar.

He sneered upon seeing the collar. Really, he didn't see why she insisted on the dramatics. All he did was nip here and there.

She put several of them on the dresser. "Galen you had better be right about this..."

Drake tilted his head at that and raised an eyebrow. "What does Galen want with those?" he asked pointing to the collars on the dresser.

"He's going to etch his Glyph on them." She said calmly. "It's the only way I'm going to have any peace."

"From others yes," he stated managing to hide his growing agitation with her pathetic attempts to thwart him.

"What do you mean, from others?" She snapped suddenly facing him.

"Just because your brother is putting his glyph on those things," he growled out, motioning toward the dresser. "Doesn't mean I'm going to leave you alone."

"My brother has a much higher claim than you do. If he has decided to give me his mark to protect me, then that is his right."

"His right, yes. Doesn't mean I care."

"If you rape me, he'll kill you."

'Right, him kill me. That's funny,' Drake thought, laughing to himself. "Rape you? Right..." he said lowly

"I won't just let you screw me, and when you get down to it, that's all you want from me." Nadia said coldly.

"Don't assume things, princess," he said, smiling at her.

She snarled and went back to her desk, turning on the bright overhead lamp.

He growled quietly, coming up behind her. "It wouldn't be rape."

"It does if the woman says no." She said calmly, as she took out a pen.

He tilted his head, staring down at her.

"I have said no, repeatedly." She said, putting down the pen and opening the drawer she had put the folders in.

He smirked, leaning down. He moved her hair to the side and kissed her neck. "It's not rape if you give in willingly," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders before kissing her neck.

Nadia tried to jerk herself away from his touch. "Better men then you have tried, and failed."

"I highly doubt that."

"I don't, and neither does my twin." She paused, then ordered. "Get your fangs and lips off my neck."

"As you wish," he growled lowly in her ear and separated himself from her body.

Someone suddenly pounded on Nadia's door. "Nadia! You in there!"

"Yeah why?"

"Danica's looking for you."

Drake glanced at the door, raising his eyebrows.

Nadia growled "All right. Tell her I'll meet her in a minute!"

"I doubt your encounter will be pleasant," Drake said quietly, striding to the door.

"It never is. If she asks me one more time whose in my bed, or if your... satisfying me properly, I think I'll scream."

"And I'm sure the entire building will hear it," he stated, smirking.

"The Nightstalkers will hear it." She replied, pulling down her jeans to reveal the knife on her other hip as well as one on the inside of each thigh. "I better not take these with me..."

Drake blinked and stared down at her lap for a moment before glancing back up at her face.

The redhead quickly removed those knives. "Too bad too, but I promised Galen I'd play nice with her after the last fight."

Drake nodded, smirking slightly. "Wise."

She grinned. "You might want to get out of here before I get back."

He only nodded in response.

"Meanwhile, it looks like I'm going to be heading back to the house... Drat. Galen will not be happy..." Nadia shrugged. "Another week of peace and quiet… can't complain. Maybe this time he'll come too." Nadia pulled up her pants again. Nadia moved the bag on her bed and calmly left the room.

Annoyed at the interruption, Drake too, left the room.


	10. Backed into a corner, fleeing the nest

Author's note: Once again, thank you Inu-midoriko for all your help! I would also like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far! We hope that this chapter was worth the wait.

* * *

Three hours later, Nadia stormed back into her room and began to pack angrily.

In those three hours, Drake had wandered around. When he had heard the yelling it surprised him that the normally quiet redhead could be so loud.

Ahead of him, Galen was pacing up and down the hallway, cursing under his breath in the vampire language.

Drake stopped and raised an eyebrow at him. He had never seen the vampire in this state of anger before.

"Nadia! Make sure you take all the things you need, I'm not sure how long we'll be." Galen called to the closed door.

Drake's eyes darted between the door and Galen.

Galen opened the door wide enough to poke his head though as though to answer a question, then shut it and continued his pacing.

"Keep doing that and you are going to put a dent in the floor."

"I've only been doing this for an hour." Galen replied in English.

"You would be amazed at what you can wear down in an hour. Why are you so angry?"

"Because I got an offer that I really don't like."

"An offer?" Drake asked, raising an eyebrow.

"One of my company's partners came to ask me for Nadia's hand in marriage." He ground out, switching again to Vampire.

Drake stared at him, jaw dropping slightly. "Wow," he managed, eyebrows raised. "I can see why you are mad now."

"It's not her he wants either, it's her share of the company." Galen growled in vampire, his cat-like eyes keeping an eye on Nadia's door.

"That doesn't seem right." Drake replied, glancing at the door.

"I agree with you, but she is only a human, and by vampire law she's cattle." Galen's mouth twisted in distaste when he called her cattle.

"What are you going to do about her suitor?" Drake asked, switching back to English.

"I don't know."

Drake cocked his head to the side.

"It's her choice, not mine. Though it would solve her problem of raining men."

The elder vampire growled, not liking the idea of Nadia belonging to someone else.

"The only way out of it that I can see is if she married someone else, but then again, I'm not her."

Drake nodded, agreeing with him.

"For all I know, she might just marry him to keep the rest of the stallions away."

He growled at that, temper about to get the better of him.

Galen shrugged. "I trust her though. However tired she might be of the rest of you, she won't do something like this rashly."

Drake nodded, his anger decreasing slightly.

Suddenly Galen's cell phone rang, and the older brother frowned, walking off to answer it. He didn't sound in a good mood.

Burning ruby eyes followed Galen's movements for a moment before returning to the door. Opening the door quietly, he slipped inside.

Her room looked almost completely stripped of personal items, and a large emerald suitcase lay nearly fully stuffed on the bed. "I'm almost done my Calm." She said, not turning to face him. "Did you remember to pack everything you needed? I don't want Danica to destroy your work again." As she spoke, she closed the top and started to zip it.

"That's lovely, but I am not your brother." he said glancing around at the obvious emptiness of the room.

Nadia nearly jumped out of her skin. "Goddess almighty!"

Drake raised an eyebrow. He smirked, amused by her reaction.

Muttering angrily to herself, she finished zipping up her suitcase before turning around, her normal silver collar once more around her throat.

"Hello sweets," he said, smiling at her. "Is it vacation time already?"

"Actually, Galen and I will be leaving for a while." The redhead's voice was very calm as she checked her backpack.

He growled lowly. He didn't want her to leave and the fact she might actually marry someone else made him furious. The fact that she seemed so calm about it was driving him insane.

Nadia didn't move or blink, but she still made sure she had a knife ready to throw if needed, wondering where her brother was.

"You are aware I told you not to leave." Drake stated blankly, eyes on her. He moved closer to her, expression unreadable.

"It's a free country. You don't have any claim on me."

He chuckled quietly at that despite his anger.

The redhead zipped up her bag and turned away from him to haul it on top of the suitcase.

He growled lowly. His temper was getting the better of him when she turned away. Drake walked up behind her and grabbed the back of her neck, bending her head back slightly, glaring down at her.

"What now?" She snapped, the collar making her brave.

Drake growled deeply, his other hand playing with the collar.

"Well?" She demanded, growing angry herself.

"Just a little fun," he said, his grip tightening on her neck. He tugged hard at her collar.

"I don't think so, Galen is waiting for me." She replied coldly.

"Let him wait," Drake growled, reaching for the clasp on the collar.

There was no clasp, and Nadia smirked.

Drake growled, not finding a clasp and wondered how in the hell she got the collar on before sliding one hand slowly down her left arm and encircling her wrist.

"Are you finished yet? I have to go." She remained calm, feeling safe since she wore the collar.

Stroking his thumb over her wrist, he enjoyed the sudden increase in her pulse rate. "Such soft skin," he murmured, eyes on her wrist.

"Get your talons off me. Now." The redhead snapped, trying and failing again to twist free.

"Talons? I wasn't aware my nails were that long."

She growled, her eyes turning into hard gray diamonds. "Let. Go."

He glanced down at her, pretending to think about it. "No," he growled out, lowly. "You don't order me. Sorry honey."

"Don't call me that either." She took a breath, preparing to scream.

His other hand released her neck and covered her mouth. "Not done with you yet, honey."

Nadia glared at him, her eyes reflecting something very close to hatred in them.

Still chuckling quietly, Drake leaned down slightly. "I'm sorry, did I piss you off?"

She didn't bother answering him, but tried again to pull her arm free.

His grip on her wrist tightened, preventing her from pulling free

Nadia hissed softly, the air from her breath caressing the skin on his palm.

Drake growled, lowly. "You are not marrying another man and wearing his glyph." His grip tightened on her wrist.

Nadia's teeth snapped together, nipping his skin sharply.

He moved his hand away from her mouth, chuckling quietly, smirking. "Was that supposed to hurt?"

"Why shouldn't I? I'm sick of being chased. Marriage is better than being somebody's whore!" The redhead ignored his question.

Drake snarled at that, becoming even more pissed off.

"You offer nothing Dracula," She made the word into a curse. "At least if I'm married I'll be left alone."

He growled quietly, leaning down and kissing her roughly. "You are very wrong about that, honey." He whispered as he pulled away.

The redhead looked violated as she scrubbed her mouth with her right hand. "I highly doubt that. The Daywalker will kill you, and by that time, I will be a widow. Then Galen and I can get on with our lives." She said firmly.

Drake snickered quietly, shaking his head. That comment only pissed him off, but somehow he found it funny. Funny that she would say something like that to someone who could easily snap her neck. His grip tightened on her wrist, ignoring the enjoyable thudding of her pulse under his fingers.

Nadia winced, but finally put her right hand down.

He smirked slightly, releasing his hold on her neck and grabbing her other wrist tightly. "Don't look so offended with my attentions. It can't be that bad, can it?" He stated, raising an eyebrow.

"That depends. I think that you'd do better with Danica than me. You'd be safer that way." She told him, trying to keep her face expressionless as she fought to free her hands from his grasp.

His grip did not loosen in her attempt to free her wrists. He cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow at her, growling. "Safer?" he asked

"She actually likes your attentions and wants what you have to offer. I don't. If you actually tried to rape me, you wouldn't have to worry about siring a new race of vampires..."

Drake growled, though found that funny for some reason. He kept his grip on her wrists, loosening it slightly. "I don't like it when you compare yourself to Danica...," he stated lowly. "How can you compare yourself to that wench? I mean, come on honey."

Nadia gingerly moved her wrists, flexing them. "How could you have gone straight into her bed like one of her many boy toys?" She countered. "Except for my brother, it's safe to say the every male living here has been in her bed at least once."

Drake shrugged. "I'm a horny dog what can I say." he retorted, growling silently.

"Well, I'm not." She snapped. "I refuse to be anybody's second fiddle."

"Who said you'd be second fiddle?"

"Danica already wears your Glyph, she showed it to me."

"What?" he growled out, eyes flashing with rage. "I did no such thing, Damnit!"

"She wears it around her neck. It looks like silver, but it probably white gold." Nadia said, looking away from him.

He sighed, deciding to deal with Danica later. Then he smirked, pulling her wrists back slightly and gently kissing them over her beating pulse. "She doesn't mean anything to me." he stated lowly.

Nadia just about jumped out of her skin for the second time that night as her pulse surged against his touch. His fangs felt like branding irons compared to his cold hands. "Don't do that!" She said her eyes dark with fear.

"Don't do what?" Drake said lowly, repeating the action. He smirked at her, loving how she reacted to him now.

The redhead tried to jerk her tender wrists away from him, afraid of getting bitten by accident. "Don't touch me there." She replied.

His grip tightened on her wrists, keeping her from yanking them away. "Why not?" he asked, still smirking.

"Because I said so." The redhead snapped. She was thankful her hands couldn't shake thanks to the grip he had on her wrists. "I don't want to be a vampire. I've seen what it's doing to my brother, and I don't want any part of it."

"Who said I'd turn you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I like you the way you are. That's saying something considering who I am." His smirk was still in place and his grip on her wrists had loosened slightly.

"I don't understand you at all."

"Who does?"

"Danica thinks she does."

"Well Danica thinks too much... I really didn't know she could actually think at all."

"In my own way, I respect her."

Drake's eyebrows shot up and he looked down at her surprised. He really didn't think she'd say that. He shook his head, realizing she was distracting him yet again. "How the hell do you distract me like that?" he asked, slightly amused though still pissed off. "Never mind, I don't want to know."

Nadia grinned, showing her small fangs. "It's very simple really."

"I gathered," he said, shaking his head.

"When someone here is interested in me, I just 'introduce' them to somebody else that is more suited for them. It's made for a great deal of marriages..."

Drake growled quietly, glaring down at her. "It won't work with me honey."

"Sadly no, you are my only failure. Very disappointing."

"Yes, disappointing," he growled out.

Nadia tried to move her hands again. "I have to go."

He growled louder this time and tightened his grip on her wrists again. He didn't want her leaving, he wanted her to stay, in his bed to be specific.

"Let go of me Dragon Lord, my brother and I need to leave before we get caught."

"Caught by what?" he asked, raising an eyebrow

"By Danica or Asher, or worse, my suitor."

He snarled, baring his fangs. "I'll claim you myself before I let you leave this room if it's the only way to keep you." He growled, bruising her wrists with his tightened grip.

Nadia's blue eyes suddenly blazed with fury, as the color left her face. "Kept?" She spat. "How can you 'keep' someone against their will? You might be able to fight my brother, or me, but can you fight us together… and win?"

Still baring his fangs, he released one of her slender hands and cupped a finely boned cheek. In his eyes, emotion seemed to enhance, rather than mar the redhead's natural beauty. "Who said it would be against your will my sweet? I desire you, and yet you fight away desire for me..." He said in an almost gentle voice.

For an answer, Nadia just jerked her face away from him. "Who said I was attracted to you, or to any man!"

He growled silently, his anger hitting a new high as he glared at her, red eyes flashing in rage. In his mind, Drake had tried to be sweet with her, but she just basically denied him.

The redhead flexed her free hand, trying to get the feeling back in it.

He snarled quietly out loud before grabbing her chin and kissing her hard. He pulled away and raised an eyebrow. "You don't want me mad at you, sweet."

Nadia slapped him with her free hand, ignoring the pain. "I could say the same about me my Lord." She said with venomous sweetness.

He chuckled quietly, rubbing his cheek lightly. It didn't really hurt, but it was reflex to rub it. "Right, I know," he said, smiling at her.

Snarling, Nadia shook out her hand. "I should have let Galen hit you..." She muttered. "His hands are harder than mine..."

His smile faded and he grabbed her hand again, in a gentler grip. He frowned, noticing her hand was red from the impact with his cheek.

Nadia glared in silent defiance.

"You shouldn't be so violent, firecracker. You aren't built for such a thing."

"And you shouldn't demand for what isn't yours to take." She growled then asked: "Who are you to tell me that I am built or suited for?"

He griped her hand tighter and snarled at her. "You are a lover not a fighter..."

"That's not your place to decide." Her heart sank suddenly, realizing that she had just said the wrong thing.

Drake gripped her hand tighter and yanked her out of her chair. He growled quietly, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her from falling over. "I can decide whatever I want, 'honey'," he said lowly in her ear. "You should know that by now, firecracker." He moved forward and threw her on the bed, pinning her down. He smirked down at her, fangs clearly visible.

Nadia hissed in pain as her body painfully whacked against her packed suitcase and backpack, still the redhead tried to twist to the side to knee him.

Drake managed to avoid getting kneed and pushed the suitcase as well as the bag off the bed. He quickly pinned her down again, remembering to secure her legs as well.

The redhead tried to clear the stars of pain from her eyes. "Damnit."

He chuckled, smiling down at her. "Don't curse, it's not becoming of you," he stated.

"You're not the one whose bruised from neck to knee." She snapped, trying to wiggle.

"That is a valid point, but you still shouldn't curse."

"I'll curse if I want to, considering the current situation."

Drake chuckled lowly, smiling at her. "Sorry for the inconvenience." he said.

"You have a talent for the understatement."

"Yes. And you have the talent for writing," he said, smirking slightly. "Really you do." He ran his fingers down her neck, lightly.

The silver collar was cold to the touch. "I know."

"I hate this thing," he growled, running his fingers over the collar.

"Too bad, I need it."

He growled again, fingers still paying with her collar.

Nadia breathed slowly in and out trying to focus.

His fingers wandered to the back of her neck, brushing against an indent in the silver. He raised an eyebrow, realizing it was a keyhole.

Nadia's defiance burned with blue flames in her eyes.

"So that's how you get these damn things on," he stated quietly

She didn't answer him, but was trying to get her hands free, ignoring the pain of her bruised wrists.

He growled again, finding that he didn't like it when Nadia was silent. Filled with a sudden fury, Drake grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head, growling when he saw the bruises.

"Let go of me."

"I don't think so, love." He crooned softly.

Nadia eyes widened, and shock covered her heart shaped face.

He raised an eyebrow at her shocked expression before realizing exactly what he had said.

Now Nadia shut her eyes and frowned. "Don't ever call me that."

He smirked. "Call you what? Love?" he asked, tilting his head. "Why?"

"Because words have power, and you don't mean it."

"And how would you know I didn't mean it?"

"If you meant it, you wouldn't keep staying in Danica's bed." She spoke in a flat tone of voice.

"Has Danica been hounding you?" he asked lowly, raising his eyebrows. He growled suddenly. "She is only..." he tried to find the right words. "An appetizer, while you are more of the main course."

"Yes she has, which you heard a while ago." Now her eyes darkened. "Who will you devour for desert when you are finished with me then?"

"I think you alone will fill me enough to skip desert."

"I highly doubt it."

"You doubt while I believe," he stated.

Nadia growled. "You need a good knock on the head to restore your reason."

"When it comes to you, my reason goes out the window."

"That why I'm removing myself from the picture."

He growled, grip tightening on her hands. "I don't want you removed from the picture."

"Ow! That's not your choice to make."

"And who said it was yours?" he growled out. "You would do well to remember who you're talking to. My word is law little girl." He gripped her hands with one hand and morphed the other one back into his normal blood red talons. He snapped the collar, slicing it clean through.

Nadia gasped as the collar fell away. "Shit..."

"I told you not to curse." He said his eyes on her now exposed throat.

"You shut up; you're the one who broke my collar."

He morphed his hand back and cupped her cheek. His anger had risen again.

Nadia tried to move again, her body was starting to go numb as she turned her head away from him, looking towards the door and wondering if Galen was in hearing range.

Hand still cupping her cheek, Drake noticed her eyes drift to the door. He had an idea of what she thinking on doing. His hand on her cheek shifted and pressed against her mouth. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Especially not in the current situation."

The redhead's eyes blazed with fear, hatred, and underneath it all, small flickers of desire began to stir. Then she closed her eyes, denying him those treacherous windows into her soul as she tried to twist her head free from his heavy hand.

Drake's eyebrows rose after seeing the emotion flash through her eyes. He was unsure of what he saw and hated that she closed her eyes to try to hide her feelings. Still in thought, he shifted slightly to take some of his weight of her, reminding himself that she was more delicate than most.

This was what Nadia had been waiting for. As both her legs jerked upward, she somewhat managed to twist her upper body to the side, hoping to break his hold on her wrists and free her hands.

His hold on her wrists tightened instantly after feeling her twist away slightly, managing to dodge getting kneed and jerked back bringing her with him. He growled deeply.

A bitter smile twisted her lips, even though she felt his wandering hand caressing the small of her back, making her body stiffen in surprise.

Drake felt her stiffen and tilted his head, looking at her questioningly.

"Get your hand away from there." She snarled, trying to raise her legs to kick again out of reflex.

"Woah! Calm down, love." He said, moving his hand upward away from the small of her back.

"You try being calm in my place."

He smirked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Why don't you just give in and enjoy it? I'm not going to let go this time." He stated lowly

"That's what you said the last few times, and yet I am still a Maiden." She retorted. "Perhaps those few thousand years of isolation have made you less of a threat to me than I first thought." She continued, rubbing salt into the wound of the last aborted attempts.

Raising his eyebrows, he realized she was trying to rile him into a fury, but it didn't stop his anger from rising. He wanted to smack her, but decided on another idea. He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, letting his hands roam.

Nadia's eyes widened in shock at his kiss, it was clear that this was the last thing she had expected from him.

He continued to kiss her, his hands moving up her back and pulling her a little bit closer. After a few moments, he pulled back and smirked at her.

She looked completely lost and vulnerable, and then she shook her head, trying to snap herself out of it. "That backfired completely...," she muttered.

Drake raised an eyebrow upon seeing her expression. He heard what she had muttered, but chose to ignore it for now.

Still shaking her head, she tried to move away from him.

He held her to him, not letting her go that easily.

"What do you want from me?" She asked finally.

"You. All of you. Your obedience, your mind, body and soul." he replied.

With a flash of those eyes, he lost his advantage. "I only obey one man willingly. My body and soul belong to Vesta, and my mind is mine alone."

Drake growled loudly at that. He didn't think she should serve a Goddess who makes her priestesses swear to chastity for a number of years. He wanted her to belong to him. "Maybe it's time you worship another Goddess," he snarled, eyes blazing with rage.

"Why should I? Unlike Danica, who must surely worship Aphrodite, since she is constantly on the move! I don't desire a man, I am content with the way things are currently." She answered, shifting slightly, trying to more her legs out from under him.

Silently, Drake tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, thinking that Nadia was being stupid for refusing him. He put more weight on her legs to keep them still, though not enough for it to be painful.

The redhead hissed softly, venting her wrath, but otherwise remained silent.

He grabbed her arms and draped them on his shoulders, while his hold tightened on her, marveling at her small frame. "I intend on choosing a queen," he said lowly. "And it's not going to be Danica."

"Do you really think my brother would permit you to choose me?" Nadia asked, for the moment leaving her arms where he had placed them.

"It's not his choice," Drake replied, raising his eyebrows. "Should he protest... he will die." He shifted slightly to get a bit more comfortable. With him as her mate, she wouldn't have to worry about other men bothering her. 'Cause let's face it,' he thought. 'I don't like to share.'

"You wouldn't dare!" She exclaimed, horrified, the color draining from her face as she automatically removed her arms from around his neck and tried to sit up in a panic.

He smiled slightly, enjoying her reaction. Pushing her down, he kissed her and ran his hands lightly down her sides. He pulled back after a few moments and smirked. "Yes, I would if you keep trying to fight me," he said lowly into her ear.

"Why me, of all people, why me?"

Drake raised an eyebrow at her. "Because despite your physical... impairment, you have strength and spirit and you're the only one that actually fights me," He stated.

"I would think that those qualities would only disgust and anger you." She commented.

"Those qualities do not disgust me... anger me, perhaps, but not disgust. You intrigue me and those qualities only draw me to you."

"That's far too bad."

He got off the bed before picking her up. "You'll have the rest of your life to get used to it, honey."

"I doubt that. I really do." She replied, thankful that Drake was done with his play. Now when he left, they could leave!

Drake noticed the relief in her eyes and held her against him for a minute. He smirked. "You should change into something beautiful for your wedding." He said, chuckling quietly.

"You wish!" She snarled, trying to keep the scream from coming out from her lips. "Besides, you don't believe in God, or the Devil!"

"Firecracker, I am the Devil," he said, smirking.

"Vesta help me..." she prayed, closing her eyes

"I doubt she can help you now, love."

"Of course you doubt, you don't know Her as well as I do." There was no doubt in her voice, only certainty.

He growled, clutching her tighter. "I always get what I want," he whispered, kissing her throat, lightly. "And if I have to kill someone to get what I want, than so be it." He loosened his grip on her and lowered her into her chair.

"Then you'll have to kill me, because we don't always get what we want." she replied calmly, snapping her seatbelt into place.

"No, I wouldn't kill you," he retorted, looking at the door for a brief moment. "I have someone else in mind, honey." He sneered at her.

Before Nadia could reply, there was a loud pounding on the door. "Nadia, change into your hunting outfit, you might end up in a fight, the asshole doesn't know what 'wait' means. Get to the back door now!" Galen's voice sounded tight with almost uncontrolled rage

"Yes Galen! Stall as long as you can, all my shit's packed up!" Nadia called. She had already thrown her glasses on the bed and was disrobing as fast as she could.

Drake stood there, his gaze traveling from the door to the disrobing Nadia. He raised an eyebrow, watching her.

Already Nadia's face was going remote, almost cold. She didn't seem to notice the way her body seemed to harden in the cold. Her hardened nipples were the same dark pink as her lips, but her right breast was noticeably larger than her left one.

He raised his eyebrows, eyes flashing with a hint of anger. Drake didn't like the way she was withdrawing, mentally closing herself off.

Leaving her clothes in a heap on the floor, she rolled her wheelchair over to the closet while still mother naked. With every breath, she was becoming more and more a warrior, shoving herself into a mold that the redhead knew she wasn't fit for. It was as though Drake didn't exist in her mind at this point.

The vampire lord continued to watch her, noticing how she shifted into a mold that was not fit for her. He was born a warrior and Nadia was not, but by the way she was acting it was hard to tell.

Taking out a skintight black leather body suit, she put it on as she was, not bothering with underclothing. The soft thick blood red curls of her triangle disappeared as she finished zipping it up all the way up her neck; the suit automatically molded itself to her imperfect body.

He growled quietly. He thought that she shouldn't have to do this, he also wondered what the hell her brother was thinking.

Finished, Nadia snagged her glasses and put them back on. Her eyes were now a cold and emotionless blue. All traces of herself as a woman were gone, and only a huntress remained.

Drake had noticed the change in her behavior. One look into her eyes confirmed the change to him. He didn't like the change, he preferred it if she didn't act like the huntress she was trying to be. It unnerved him, seeing her like that made him feel like he didn't know her at all. 'It's actually quite haunting…' he thought, red eyes still on her.

Without a word, she armed herself with her sharpest knives and left the room, fleeing towards the back elevator.


	11. The truth behind their masks

Author's note: Once again, thank you Inu-midoriko for all your help! I would also like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far! We hope that this chapter was worth the wait.

* * *

Drake had followed her out of the room and toward the back elevator. His eyes were still on her.

Banging the button for the underground parking level with the heel of her hand, She could hear screams coming from downstairs, and a vampire started running towards the closing doors, banging into them with a loud crash.

He noticed how she didn't flinch at the bang, and tilted his head, wondering what she was thinking at the current moment.

"When the elevator stops, take it back up, you'll only be in my way." she said calmly, as she watched the light move.

Drake arched an eyebrow and growled quietly. He didn't like being told what to do, especially by someone in a wheelchair that thought he'd get in her way. Knowing that he could literally snap her in two and she was telling him to stay out of the way. He didn't think that was right, let alone sane.

The redhead gave no sign that she had heard him, but kept her cold eyes on the light above the doors, her heart was racing but there was no sign of it on her face.

The vampire could hear her heart racing and it stirred something in him. He had the sudden urge to kiss her and he really didn't know why.

The door opened, and Nadia exited carefully, not looking behind her as she slipped into the shadows.

He didn't exit the elevator and just stared after her. He doesn't exist in her mind now, and he knew it.

A vampire rushed at the small redhead, and Nadia stopped long enough to throw a knife into his chest, turning him to ash. Not bothering to pick up the knife, she continued moving.

The dragon of the vampires growled, stepping out of the elevator and glancing down at the knife. The thought that she would leave a weapon behind pissed him off. He picked up the knife, glancing up in the direction she went. 'Never leave a weapon behind.' he thought, clenching his teeth.

In the black handle of the knife were the letters N.R. The redhead was now out of sight.

'N.R.?' he thought, putting something together in his head.

A soft ding came from the elevator and a tired looking Galen walked out of the elevator, two long knives at ready in each of his hands. His emerald eyes were just as hard as Nadia's. Walking directly up to Drake, he glanced at the knife in the elder vampire's hand and nodded as he sheathed his own weapons. "I'll take that."

Drake raised an eyebrow, red eyes blazing. The fact that Galen seemed unsurprised his twin left the knife behind angered him even more.

"You think that I wouldn't follow my own twin-born sister, the one who shares my flesh as well as my very blood?" Galen asked coldly as he took the knife back from Drake.

"Well, that's not really an excuse for leaving a weapon behind." Drake stated, staring at the young vampire. "Just because she knew you would follow doesn't make it an excuse."

"Better to leave the weapon behind than to die picking it up." Galen's voice could have melted steel.

Drake stared at Galen surprised that they worked so well together. And yet do it in a way that no one could actually guess the pair were really a team.

Frowning and not bothering to say anything else, Galen turned on heel and marched away.

He growled, frustrated with himself for not figuring it out earlier. Drake decided to follow them, wanting to know all the other secrets the twins were hiding.

The younger vampire slipped from shadow to shadow, blending in with the night, he seemed to be heading for the park.

He continued to follow them, trying to not be seen or heard.

After about ten minutes, Galen stopped. "Dia?" he called softly.

"Here." Nadia called quietly, rolling out of the shadows, an unreadable expression in her eyes.

Drake made sure he wouldn't be seen before his attention was fully focused on Nadia. He raised an eyebrow sensing that she wasn't alone. He had an idea of who it as and didn't like it one bit.

The redhead looked tired and a little sad too. "I wanted you to meet someone Galen..." She turned her head a little to the side. "You can come out now my friends." She called softly to the shadows behind her.

Three figures stepped up behind her, Blade, Abby and King, their faces perfectly unreadable.

Drake growled silently watching from his hiding place.

Galen swallowed, visibly pale, but otherwise calm. "So this is where you've been getting the antidote from?"

"Yes." Nadia said softly. "I've been working with them for a while now. The Nightstalkers have found a way to cure vampires who were turned."

Drake's eyebrows shot up and his anger reached it's breaking point. He was proud of being a vampire and hearing that to him was like an killing insult.

Galen raised his eyebrows in surprise, and then smiled warmly at his twin. "I knew you'd keep your promise Hope..." He said softly.

Blade's lips twitched. "Your sister is either very loyal or very stupid."

Galen grinned. "I know. What do I have to do?"

Drake was beyond pissed off and enraged. In his twisted mind, she had not only led him on, but betrayed him and all other vampires as well. Yet he couldn't help but still want her. He blamed his feelings on her skintight body suit. However deep within him, he knew he couldn't blame his feelings on that. He cursed quietly, realizing something for the first time.

Meanwhile, Abby and King were drawing blood from Galen's arm, talking quietly. Whatever they were saying, Galen was nodding in agreement. Blade had handed Nadia a heavy looking black case and seemed to be explaining something to her. Nadia's lips pressed together, but she was nodding slowly.

Drake's attention shifted away from the older brother as he stared at Nadia now, red eyes flashing dangerously. He smirked, plotting some sort of revenge to take. For Drake was done with playing the nice guy routine, done with holding back. He didn't want to hurt her, secretly wanted her to submit to him willingly, but it seemed that approach had failed. Now, though, he really didn't give a damn, revenge was the only thing on his mind.

Once finished, Abby and King hugged the twins and left with Blade. Galen stared at his sister in amazement. Nadia smiled. "It wasn't easy Galen."

Galen shook his head in wonder. "I know. I love you too. Thanks. Get some sleep love." The older brother ordered Nadia as he gave her back the knife.

Nadia yawned. "Thanks, you got the keys right?"

He nodded. "Yes, and I had better feed before..." Galen's voice sounded sick.

At Nadia's nod, Galen slipped off. Nadia sighed and started to move, looking very tired but content.

Drake cocked his head to the side, noticing how tired she looked. He may be pissed off beyond comprehension, but he still cared, which only served to make him madder still.

Shaking her head sharply, she blinked and rolled down the path, the knuckles on her other hand were white from her death-grip on the case in her lap.

Coldly, he watched for a few more seconds before stepping out of the shadows right in front of her. He looked down at her and smirked slightly.

Tired she might be, but she didn't waste time thinking about what he may or may not have heard. Even as her heart froze with terror in her chest, she had drawn her sharpest knife.

Drake raised his eyebrows, disgusted with her attempt to hurt him. She should know by now that she couldn't hurt him. He reached out and grabbed the knife, yanking it from her small hand and tossing it over his shoulder. "Tsk, Tsk," he murmured, glaring at her with demented flaming ruby eyes.

"I'm not in the mood. Get out of here." She snapped, trying to go around him to retrieve her knife.

The lord of vampires growled loudly and, well, pounced on her. He grabbed the black case and yanked it from her grip, placing it on the ground somewhere. Then he angrily unhooked her seatbelt and picked her up, slamming her into a nearby tree. "You're in no position to give orders." he snarled.

Nadia gasped in pain, and saw stars even as her legs kicked out while her slender hands grabbed the tree trunk behind her for balance.

He growled in annoyance as she continued to try and kick him. His grip on her throat tightened slightly. He didn't like the thought of the rough bark scraping her soft skin. He looked at her with hardened red eyes. She didn't look the least bit sorry for what she had done.

The redhead finally gave up kicking him, and just stayed still, relaxing her muscles. Her nostrils flared as she breathed through her nose. 'If I have to die... I am content now...' She thought.

The hand at her throat loosened slightly, while he wrapped the other around her waist to keep her still. "You've turned into a traitor," he snarled. "When you could've been my queen."

"When did I ever say I wanted to be a queen?" She countered hotly, her blue eyes blazing in unmistakable hatred. "My loyalty is where it has always been!"

He growled, glaring at her. Unwillingly he had to admire her resistance and temper. 'It's the red hair.' he thought. 'Makes her feisty.' Drake noticed the emotion in her eyes and snarled. He hated what he found there and wanted nothing more than to drive it away.

She wiggled, trying to loosen his grip, her hand sliding towards another knife.

He leaned forward, his face now mere inches away from hers and his breath caressing her soft skin. "I'm not going to let your actions go unpunished," he said in a low, almost tender voice.

"Sorry I've been beaten before, and it won't work on me." Inside she was panicking. 'He's insane. Dracula is completely mad now.' She thought, feeling the hard muscles of his leg pin her hand to her thigh.

He pulled her closer, enjoying the feel of her slender body against him. "Your father was a fool." he purred.

Nadia froze motionless. "What are you doing?"

He released his grip on her throat before prying her hand off the tree.

"Ouch!" She said, taking her hand out of his. "What do you want?" She snapped.

Drake grabbed her hand again, grinning. His red ruby eyes held a hint of insanity within them. "I will have you one way or another sweet little traitor," he said. "I'm just deciding on the method."

Nadia's heart hammered in fear and she struggled again. "No you won't..."

Drake felt her heart pounding against him and smiled his eyes wild and insane. He took her arm and wrapped it around his neck before grabbing her other hand.

She had no choice but to hang on, it was either that or fall. Her heart quailed at the expression in his eyes, so she shut hers and tried to relax. "Why me?" She asked, unaware she had spoken out loud.

His grip on her hand tightened. He ran his fingers along her waist lightly. "Open your eyes." he said, lowly. "You are the rose among the demon thorns. I can't help but notice that, love."

Nadia opened her eyes, but looked away from him. "But you yourself said you were the devil incarnate. Why would you want the one person who doesn't want you? Danica..."

"I already told you she means nothing to me," he stated, voice quiet yet angry. His eyes still held the insanity of someone who finally snapped. "There is a simple answer to your question, but I am not ready to answer because even I don't understand it at the moment."

"You had sex with her, that's not 'nothing'!" Nadia snapped.

He growled, wrapping her other arm around him, pulling her closer. "Desires of the moment, nothing more."

Now her head snapped around to stare into his eyes. "A very long moment then, considering my room is right below hers." She said coldly.

He growled, squeezing her waist tightly. He didn't like being questioned. "And your point? Love was not involved," he stated.

"I'm not willing to get a disease." She said sharply.

He laughed, a bit insanely. "The undead don't get diseases, love." He said, rolling his eyes.

"I don't care, I'm still not giving you the maidenhood I have fought so hard to keep." She fought to keep the shiver inside. "And don't call me that."

"I can call you whatever I want, firecracker." he purred, licking his lips.

Nadia couldn't help the shiver that ran though her body and soul. "You need a chill pill, or maybe you should just go sit on an ice block."

"That wouldn't help any," he said, staring at her. He felt her shiver and enjoyed it. He stroked her back gently, to possibly coax another one out.

Nadia jumped in his arms. "Don't do that."

He held her tighter, loving the contact. "I have you now." he purred, grinning.

"You'll have to put me down sooner or later."

"I don't think I will," he said giving her a half grin. "I'd rather not be alone."

"That's too bad, because I like my chair."

Drake was still furious with her. He wanted to hurt her, but not in the physical way. He wanted to hurt her emotionally; he just didn't have that figured out yet.

Nadia looked completely unafraid, but the racing of her heart gave way to the lie. "Are you finished yet?"

He laughed quietly, before smiling at her. His smile hinted at his loss of rational thought. "You try so hard to act as though you aren't scared…" he stated.

"Why would I give you that much power?" She replied, forcing herself to meet his eyes.

"I can hear as well as feel that your heart beating at a very fast pace, you've already given some power, my dear." he replied, still smiling.

"Doesn't mean I have to show it or admit it."

He laughed, swaying her in his arms slightly. "Oh you will once I marry you."

"You've either been drinking, on drugs, or completely insane." She said but her hold tightened on him to keep her balance.

"I'd go with insane for now," he said, smile leaving his face.

Nadia frowned. "I'm not getting married."

He tilted his head, growling. He didn't like how sure and firm she sounded. "That's what you think."

"We both agree that you are insane. So a marriage is out of the question. We aren't suited for each other."

He gave her a squeeze. "Considering you stabbed me in the back with a proverbial knife, that doesn't make your judgment trustworthy," he stated, grinning at her. He slid back into the insanity that had trapped him earlier

"Then you should have stayed out of my way. I have my own reasons for doing what I do, and you weren't a part of it." Her voice was flat and emotionless.

His anger reached a new high as he'd been shoved aside for an unknown reason. He growled quietly, before smiling again.

Between the cold feeling of Drake's arms wrapped tight around her and the hot sweat that covered her body beneath the suit, Nadia felt more than a little chilled. The smile that she saw on the vampire's face that scared her shitless also made her heart pound faster and her blood turn to ice in her veins. 'Why is he just holding me? What is he planning? Is he just waiting for my heart to give out?' She thought, trying to keep her breathing even.

Drake marveled at how fast her heart was beating, he didn't think it could beat at such a fast rate without having a heart attack. He could smell the sweat on her and his blood rushed to a lower portion of his anatomy. This had an influence on what he is trying to decide what to do to her.

Nadia frowned at him. "You can put me down now." She said coldly.

He ran his fingers gently over the back of her neck. "You aren't that heavy and I'm not letting you get away," he said.

Her heart skipped a beat and nearly stopped. "Why are you so fixated on me damnit? I never encouraged you."

"Because you are different and that caught my attention," he replied, tilting his head slightly. "The more you tried to push me away, the closer I wanted to be."

"I'm not going to be another trophy on your mantle. The only reason you want me at all is because I don't think you are a God like everyone else." She snapped.

Drake laughed, shaking his head slightly. "Do not try to understand what I think or feel. This has a lot more meaning to me then you seem to realize." He said, raising his eyebrows.

"You won't win. If Blade doesn't get you, my brother will."

"Win what? This game you think I'm playing?" Drake said, growing a bit serious. "This isn't a game anymore, little girl. I'm way past making it seem like I won't take what I want. If I die in the process of trying to get it then I die. It's either going to be Blade, your brother, or this emotion I'm feeling for you."

"You said yourself I am a traitor. I'm not sorry for it. I'll do whatever needs to be done in order to keep my promise. If it means killing you by my own hand, I'll do it without a second thought." Saying this, of course, was an exercise in stupidity, but Nadia was hoping that saying this cold truth would cool him off.

He slammed her back up against the tree, furious. "You kill me? I don't think so, love." He growled out. "You will regret those words in due time."

"I can't see how I would." She replied, seeing stars again from the force of the impact.

He smirked, his fangs lengthening. He brushed them gently against the leather collar right above her pulse point. "Really? You can't?" He said, growling quietly.

Nadia gasped, and then went rigid in his arms. She felt the fangs even through the thick black leather. "You are toying with me." She managed to say.

He loved the gasp that escaped her and purred quietly. Drake roughly pulled her away from the tree again, scooping her up so that she couldn't kick him anymore, and cradled her gently in his arms.

The redhead shook her head, trying to clear her head, her currently unseeing eyes still dazed and confused.

He lifted her a little so she was resting closer against him and brushed his fangs against her pulse point again, thinking about how to make her pay for what she did.

Nadia jumped, awareness flooding back into her eyes. "Put me back in my wheelchair." By the tone in her voice, this wasn't a request.

Drake laughed. "You keep demanding that. I'll always say no."

Nadia shifted her weight, drawing away from him as much as she could without falling, and then hit him hard with the side of her hip.

He laughed at her before placing her in her chair. "No need to be violent." he said, keeping his grip on her right hand. He placed a gentle kiss on it before smiling at her.

The redhead jumped a mile high at his kiss, but otherwise gave no sign that she was scared as her eyes searched for the case.

He chuckled quietly, loving how jumpy she was being. Drake noticed her looking for something; it took him a moment to realize she was looking for the case. He wondered what was in the case that was so dear to her.

Her blue eyes brightened when she spotted that case and started to drive over, absently trying to pull her trapped hand out of Drake's.

Drake's eyebrows raised a fraction and his grip tightened on her hand. "Trying to get away from me, love?"

She hissed in pain. "I'm trying to drive thank you, and you are not helping..." At this point, she didn't care if she pissed him off. She just wanted to get away from him.

He took a step closer, caressing her hand slowly, before frowning at the leather encasing her arm. He'd rather see her clothed in some other material, like silk or satin.

Her hand convulsively tightened on his, her arm trembling. "Stop that!" She snapped sharply.

The vampire smirked down at her, knowing he just found a sensitive spot. He tilted his head slightly. "I don't believe I like that tone of yours," he said, stepping closer. His red eyes hinting to his insanity as he reeled her in so that they were shoulder to shoulder.

"Then maybe you should let go and stop trying to interrupt me." She said coldly, trying to put distance between them again.

He kissed her hand again, his lips lingering on her skin for a moment. He smirked down at her. "You won't need to worry about protecting yourself from the other vampires now. So you don't need to hunt them anymore," he said quietly, his voice mockingly tender.

She shuddered, because his lips felt like a cold brand on her hand. "Yes I do, there is still one vampire I want dead, and until I find him, I'm not going to stop. Neither will my twin."

He loved how he could get a reaction out of her so easily. He wondered who the vampire was, but he really didn't like the idea that she and her brother hunted together.

Nadia bent her upper body to pick up the case, being very careful with her movements. "You can let go of my hand now."

"No," he said, releasing her hand only to wrap an arm around her shoulders.

She jumped, nearly dropping the case. "Don't touch me!" She cried.

For an answer, Drake held her closer to him before he leaned down to kiss her again in sarcastic humor. He enjoyed touching her when she told him not to.

Nadia tried to pull away, which was a little awkward considering the size and weight of the case she held in her lap. She turned her head to the side so that she didn't have to look at him.

Drake grabbed her face in between his hands, stroking her high cheekbones with his thumbs. "Don't be afraid of me, my little traitor." he purred.

She gulped before daring to answer. "Why shouldn't I be? You are bigger, stronger, and more ruthless than me." She replied. "I don't like vampires to begin with, and marrying one of your status is out of the question. We aren't equals."

Drake tilted his head slightly, still holding her face. "Why so worried about status, little girl?" he asked lowly. "Are you scared of Danica or some other vampire?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Only an idiot wouldn't be in my place! Galen isn't there all the time, and it's only thanks to my connection with the Nightstalkers that I've been able to stay human for this long. I tread a very fine line in order to stay where I'm at, and the others are all too eager to rip me from my twin. I once heard Danica say that Asher could do whatever he wanted to me so long as she got my brother in her bed!" She closed her eyes, so as not to look at Drake, trying to ignore the feel of his hands. "I don't trust anyone but my brother. For his sake, to turn him back to the twin I love, I was willing to follow him into the hell of the vampire's nest."

His face remained blank and he didn't appear angry. However, on the inside he was growing steadily pissed and jealous. He was jealous of the bond she had with her twin, yet awed somehow by it. His anger was renewed at Nadia for joining the Nightstalkers. However, the thing that seemed to piss him off the most was the redhead's mention of what Danica had said to Asher. He was also incredibly aware of how soft her skin was.

The redhead gripped the case tighter, the knuckles on her hands were white with a fear that she refused to show this lunatic with fangs. "Neither my brother and I were meant to be warriors. My brother was not meant to be a vampire. It was not his choice to be turned. The world that you and the others desire in the future is one that horrifies and disgusts us to our very souls." Now she tried to move away from him, wanting distance in case Drake had another psycho fit.

He didn't let her go, tightening his grip slightly to keep her from getting away from him. He chuckled quietly before whispering in her ear. "You'll change your mind with time my dear. I can handle Danica and Asher." He smirked, red eyes bright. "Your brother can do as he pleases as long as you behave yourself." He was metaphorically baiting the trap without having to admit his feelings for her or put himself on the line. He would switch her loyalties and have her come to him willingly soon enough.

"My brother and I are the other's world. No one will hurt him as long as I am alive. I owe him everything. I've done... things... that I'm not proud of, to keep my word to him. We have killed so many vampires, I've lost count, but it's not easy for both of us. All we ever wanted was our freedom, nothing more." She said and swallowed. "We were almost there until you came..."

Drake raised his eyebrows, surprised by her admission and the pain in that last sentence. It soon wore off and he wanted to hurry up and get her back to the tower and possibly into his bed. He also idly pictured the expression on Danica's face when he finally made his announcement. He smiled at Nadia, wondering if she had finally let her guard down.

She jerked her head out of his hands, opening her eyes as she did so, then started to drive away. A loud crack of thunder sounded nearby, making her start and her heart thump as she worriedly scanned the midnight velvety black skies.

He followed her, also glancing up above and noticing the stormy night sky. He knew that stormy days or nights were supposed to be romantic in some way. He wasn't much of a romantic himself, but he appreciated detail and the concept. Nature was playing along with his plans to have her and he knew from what he read of her notebook Nadia herself was a 'hopeless' romantic.

Nadia shook her head slightly. "Hera, Queen of the Heavens, Goddess of the Sacred Marriage… why did You choose tonight of all nights to allow Your husband…?" She let her voice trail off as she carefully increased the speed on her chair to move faster. "Hestia, Vesta, Hecate… save me from that summons…" The last three Goddesses names flowed in a chant that sounded natural and often spoken in that way.

Drake raised his eyebrows, growling quietly. He had told her before to choose another Goddess to worship. Having heard her once again call upon that goddess in a plea to 'save' her from him, snapped something else inside Drake. He continued to follow her, taking her attempt to leave him in the dust as a personal insult.

Another rumble of thunder made Nadia press her lips together tightly. "I get the point Hera, but I'm still not doing it. Uh huh! No way! No how!" She growled to the skies as they left the park.

He tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. The fact she seemed to be having an argument with the goddess Hera amused him greatly. His patience had snapped within him and something else. Though he wouldn't admit that he was hurt because she didn't love him.

Now she looked in a bad mood as she wove her way though the streets. About an hour later, she turned the corner into a small peaceful looking neighborhood. Everything was still and silent except for the skies above. Without knowing it, Nadia relaxed and her heart slowed to a normal sounding pace again.

He growled again realizing that he was now the farthest thing from her mind. He wanted to remind her that he was still there. The smell of her sweat was driving him insane.

Nadia turning into the driveway of one of the houses, but instead of going though the front door, the redhead went around to the side.

Drake looked surprised when she went around the side of the house. He wondered why she had done that and followed her quickly and quietly.

A small garden stood next to a French sliding glass door. Punching a number in a small keypad, there was a click of the door unlocking itself, and she slid it open just as the sky growled in fury just before it started to pour. Without waiting, Nadia quickly went inside, shutting the door behind her.

He growled, yanking the glass door open. He was quickly growing tired of her fiery attitude and wasn't far away from showing her exactly how to respect him.

The room looked dimly lit; To Drake's surprise, this bedroom was a very different bedroom than the one she used in the tower. The walls painted a rich dark emerald with silver trim. A large thick bed was in the center of the room, the covers and pillows were a rich dark brown against the golden brown of the headboard that matched the standing dresser, as well as the side tables. Unlike Danica's room, this was a room designed for relaxation and peace.

Drake glanced around the room, marveling at how different it was from the room she had in the Tower. Standing there in this room, he could now see the crack in the mask Nadia always wore. The room was drastically different from Danica's. This was a room for relaxation, while Danica's was more akin to a shrine to sex. His red eyes drifted over to the queen-size bed and smirked, thinking this room was much better than the one his soon-to-be-lover had occupied in the tower. He wondered why the lights were so dim, thinking that maybe she was tying to be romantic. The storm was still raging outside and getting worse by the minute.

The case was nowhere in sight, and the sound of a shower running in the next room told Drake where Nadia was currently.

He turned back to the glass door and locked it. His smirk did not fade. He leaned against the wall, waiting for her.

A few minutes later, Nadia came into the room, her glasses fogged up but looking much more relaxed and happy now that she was clean. Her wet red hair was the color of blood that spilled against the soft thick bathrobe she was wearing. A sharp double clap of her hands and the light went out. Making her way calmly though the darkness, she shrugged out of the robe and laid it on the end of the bed before turning the thick covers down and getting into the large bed. She looked like a kitten curled up in the covers. Putting her glasses on the nightstand, she snuggled in.

He growled in annoyance, walked over to the bed and stroked her back slowly. Drake enjoyed how her still wet hair tangled in his fingers.

Nadia yelped and all but jumped out of her skin as she rolled over away from him. "What in the name of Vesta-?!" She cried as she struggled to sit up in alarm. The pounding torment of the rain hitting the roof felt like the pounding of her frightened heart.

Drake could hear the pounding of her heart over the rain pounding on the roof. He was angry that she had invoked the goddess Vesta yet again when she rolled away from him. He was also, even if he didn't admit it, hurt by it and the fact this was a night made for romance and she had left him out in the cold.

Closing her eyes, Nadia tried to steady her breathing, as well as her heartbeat, knowing that too much stress was not a good thing. "What are you still doing here?" She asked, trying to make her voice cold to cover her fear.

Snarling, Drake reached toward her and carefully pushed her down into the softness of the mattress as he pulled her closer to him before she fell off the side of the bed. "I wouldn't leave you alone on a night like this, love," he said quietly.

The redhead froze for a moment in surprise; she hadn't thought Drake had such a long reach considering she had been on the opposite side of the bed. "Don't call me that! I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself." She snapped while at the same time trying to get free of his grip, but the softness of the bed was working against her, trapping her in a soft nest from below as he held her down from above with an iron grip.

He enjoyed seeing the softness of the mattress confine and trap her. "You've been alone far too long," he purred. "You deserve to be a queen." He pulled her closer, looking down at her. "I'm in charge, remember firecracker?" he said lowly. "I can call you whatever pet name I want to."

"I still don't see why you continue to waste your time on me. As for being alone, what gave you that idea? I have my twin and my friends; it would be selfish and rude to want even more than that." She said; glad that she couldn't see in the dark, even if she couldn't ignore the feeling of his arm around her.

He could still hear her heart beating wildly despite her brave words. He could feel tremors run through her body, out of fear he guessed. He smiled down at her.

This silence was unnerving; the roaring of fury outside was the only sound. "Get off of me." She finally said. Nadia then wiggled, trying again to get out of his hold.

Drake held her tighter, still smiling. "As a traitor, I am in charge of your punishment," he said lowly.

"So what are you trying to do? Crush me until my heart gives out in my own bed? How sweet." She replied sarcastically.

He snapped, his anger getting the best of him. "Killing you wasn't what I had in mind, love." he growled out.

"I'm not your love or your mistress." She snapped back, pushing him with both hands. "If you want bed games, go back to Danica and let me sleep."

He pushed her back down, covering her with his body. He was extremely pissed off that she had mentioned Danica in the same sentence as herself, let alone him as well.

"Hey!" Nadia felt nearly crushed into the soft bedding. "Get off Damnit!"

He snarled at her, lifting himself slightly as to not crush her. He still had her pinned down, but without too much pressure. He had her completely trapped now and smirked. "Um... let me think," he said with mock concentration. "No."

"What in the hell is wrong with you?! I told you I wasn't interested. Why won't you leave me alone?" She let her arms rest above the covers, but her hands kept clenching and unclenching into fists.

'There are just some cases that actions must speak better than words. Frankly, this is one of them.' Drake thought as he grabbed her hands, pinning them firmly above her head and kissed her.

Nadia froze for a minute, neither fighting him nor accepting him. This time however, she fought back when he kissed her, her soft tongue fighting his and struggling to push it back into his own mouth. Her body twisting, trying to turn away from him and only succeeding to rub herself against him though the thick covers that separated them.

Feeling her tongue fight against his, Drake went wild with something akin to triumph because he thought she was kissing back. He was also feeling frustrated, wanting to get closer to her and finding the blankets between them annoying.

Finally managing to get his tongue back into his mouth, she quickly retracted hers and clenched her teeth together to deny him access again.

Drake felt her teeth with his tongue and pulled back in frustration. He growled in fury and released her wrists only to pull the covers away from her body. Once he had the covers out of the way, he laid down beside her and smiled at the thin ivory-colored silk nightgown she wore.

The redhead flinched away from his cold body. "You never give up do you?" She demanded, feeling cold without the blankets.

He let out a growl of frustration when she pulled away, and decided not to cover her with the heavy blankets again. "No, I don't," he snapped. "I thought you would have figured that out by now, little girl."

Despite the cold, Nadia stayed as far away from him as she could without falling completely off the bed. She ignored the storm's angry sounding rumbling outside as she closed her eyes to think before she answered. "Why would I figure it out? You only want this body, something I'm not willing to give to someone that I don't trust. The only reason you are offering marriage, if you can call your offer that, is because you can't stand the thought of me falling in love with somebody else."

Her words stung, but he wouldn't admit that what she had said hurt him. He stared at her, she wasn't even looking at him as she was talking and that added to the sting of her words.

Deciding that she wasn't going to just lay there and freeze, Nadia slowly sat up and reached for her robe.

The reason her words hurt him so much was because they hit far too close to the truth. He also realized that she was trying to leave him... yet again. He grabbed her before she got back into her wheelchair and roughly pushed her back into the warm softness of the mattress. "My reasons for wanting to bind you are my own!" he snarled, baring his teeth. His eyes flashed in the darkness with a rage that would have scared anyone senseless. "You would do best not to assume what goes on in my mind, firecracker."

Nadia had the breath knocked out of her when her head slammed back into the pillow. Still, she tried to pry his hand off her. "You can't bind what isn't yours to start with." She managed to reply, ignoring the pain that stung her leg when it scraped against the chair.

He pushed down on her slightly, making her sink into the bed. He noticed the scratch on her leg and growled quietly. 'Enough is enough,' he thought glaring at her.

The redhead kicked him. "I said no damn you." She growled with a frown.

"Oh I'm already damned, honey," he said, running his hands down her sides. He kissed her again, forcing his tongue into her mouth.

Ignoring the jolt the spread though her body at his touch, she fought him with everything she had.

He wrapped himself around her, pulling back slightly. "Stop your useless fighting, girl." He said. Her body was being responsive even though she was fighting him and that made him feel a bit smug.

"The only way I'm going to stop fighting is if I die." She replied, trying to get out of his hold.

His hands continued to roam over her body. "I'm not letting go now, sorry love," he whispered softly in her ear. He could be tender if he wanted to be, anyway.

"You aren't sorry, and we both know it. What do I have to do to make you leave my brother and I alone?" She asked, jerking her head away from his mouth, his breath felt like fire against her skin.

Shifting his weight, Drake grabbed her head between his hands again. "There isn't anything you can do," he said even more quietly. "I chose you and you shouldn't question what I say." 'Though,' he thought, sighing internally. 'She'll do that anyway.'

"You may have picked me out, but I'm not going to go along with it. If you are trying to create a new race of vampire, you chose the wrong girl." Nadia replied, trying to free her head.

Drake roughly tugged at her nightgown, hearing it rip as he tore it from her body. His eyes roamed over her body despite the darkness. "You are more intelligent and far more focused than Danica, honey," he said lowly, red eyes focusing hungrily on her face. "A new race of vampire was on the agenda, but it's become more than just creating a super race. Actually with our combined intelligence and my blood it'd be a perfect race."

He didn't seem to care that Nadia would be bound to him after their eventual wedding. However, he was a leader and despite being superior, he wanted to be sure that the other vampires would not question his choice. Those who did question it or try to cause the redhead discomfort in any way would most likely find themselves on the receiving end of pain, lots and lots of pain.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he stroked her cheek lightly, leaning in closer to her face. He brushed her hair back, away from her face. "Enough of this small talk." he said quietly, his breath caressing her skin. "I can think of far better ways to pass the time…"


	12. Morning After Aftermath

Author's note: Once again, thank you Inu-midoriko for all your help! I would also like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far! We hope that this chapter was worth the wait.

* * *

Drake's eyes opened to the harsh bright sunlight shining in his eyes. He groaned softly and blocked the light with one arm. He was then aware of the extra weight on the bed. In surprise, Drake looked over to the person lying next to him, half expecting to see Danica, but the whore was not who he saw. Instead, it was his beautiful yet short-tempered Amazon who was lying curled up kitten-like next to him.

He smirked with satisfaction as he remembered the events that took place in this very bed with the one woman who swore to Vesta she would never go to bed with. Drake's smirk faded as she shifted. If she woke up right now because of the light shining through the damn window, he would not be a happy vampire lord. Silently, he got out of the bed, totally oblivious to his nakedness.

As quietly as he could, he walked over to the window and closed the blinds, causing Nadia's room to look engulfed in darkness. The vampire lord made his way back to the bed and as lightly as he could without waking his princess, the vampire lord lay back down and brought her chilled naked body closer to his. He frowned, how could she be cold under this thick blanket she had wrapped around herself sometime during the night? No matter, he would warm her up. He brought her closer to him and started caressing her back.

The room was still dark when Nadia opened her eyes some time later, her body aching in every way. At first, the sleepy woman thought that she had just slept wrong and that it had been some kind of strange dream…

Until the unfamiliar feeling of a hand softly caressing the scarred sensitive skin of her back slammed Nadia back into full wakefulness. Jerking her head upright, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes only to be gently pulled back down so that her head was lying against his chest again.

Drake had tried to sleep after pulling the blinds closed but he was too infatuated with Nadia. So instead, he had watched her sleeping form and noticed she didn't look so cold and unforgiving when her mind was temporarily at peace. He felt Nadia jump at his tender caressing of her back and couldn't help but to feel hurt and growl low within his chest. The vampire lord found the way she would jump out of her skin at even the lightest touch to her back to be insulting.

Not wanting her to completely wake up yet, Drake moved his hand to a random silky flame colored curl and rubbed it between his fingers, enjoying the soft feeling. He, like any man who felt any affection for the female race, couldn't help but feel anger at the twins' father for hurting Nadia in such an unforgiving way. For hurting her so deeply that she recoiled when touched by anyone besides Galen.

Nadia absently let her head rest on the Glyph that was branded on his chest, trying to get the fog out of her mind so that she could remember what happened. "Wha…?" She said, trying to wake up.

Drake chuckled silently before a smirk settled on his lips, stroking her tangled hair lightly, and shifting his grip slightly. He looked down into her sleep clouded eyes, wondering what her reaction might be. Drake would never admit it, not even to himself, but he was afraid of how she would react.

The redhead shut her eyes in shame as the memories came flooding back, she didn't need to touch her inner thighs to know that her own blood stained them. "Damn... I can't believe..." She didn't trust herself to say any more, afraid that she would completely break down. She swallowed painfully, fighting back he tears that she knew she couldn't shed right now. This was no time for a breakdown of any sort!

He shifted slightly, rolling over so that he loomed over her. He cocked his head to the side, raising an eyebrow, curiously. "You can't believe what princess?" he asked.

"...Can't believe last night really happened." She muttered, rolling to the side to sit up. Nadia really wished that he would just go away.

The dragon lord reached out and grabbed her arm gently, stopping her from moving away. He looked at her with his head tilted slightly. "It did happen, whether you want to believe it or not." he murmured softly.

Nadia shivered, absently hiding her back with a toss of her head to make sure her long hair screened it properly. "That means I'll have to lie the next time Danica picks a fight with me…" There was a note of worry in her voice and Nadia shook her head. "My life just became a great deal more complicated..." She said with a sigh.

Drake stared at her for a moment. Danica wouldn't dare pick a fight with his Amazon as long as he was with her.

She shook off his hand with a shrug of her slender shoulder. Then Nadia sighed as she slowly managed to pull herself, still mother naked, into her chair. "Now what?" She asked herself, unaware that she had spoken out loud. Nadia was trying to distract herself so that she didn't have to think about what had happened the night before. At least, she couldn't think about it until she was alone and free to breakdown.

A low rumble sounded deep within his chest. He found it insulting that she shrugged him off along with what they did together the night before. The fact that she was now in her chair again did not bode well either.

Instead of getting up and bringing her back over, only to have her give him cold glares and protest, he decided to ask what purpose she served with the Nightstalkers. "What is it you do for the Nightstalkers?"

The redhead rolled over to the dresser and started to open and close drawers. "That would be telling." She replied, her tone expressionless, emotionally trying to distance herself from last night. "Besides, I'm not stupid. You'd be the last person I'd tell."

Drake chuckled quietly at her attempt to pretend that last night didn't change the way she felt about him. He watched her as she opened and closed the drawers almost absentmindedly. He didn't want her to get dressed, he liked the way her body looked and the way it moved in her chair as she moved her chair from one place to another.

The vampire lord was pondering on what conversation they could have while she tried to find clothes to wear. He thought about her family, how he knew about every one of them... except their mother. "What happened to your mother? Neither you nor Galen have talked about her."

Nadia paused, her slender hand frozen in mid-reach towards a small faded jewelry box that Drake hadn't noticed before. "She was murdered." She answered softly. There was a world of sadness and pain in those three small simple words. "Our mother died trying to protect us." The redhead swallowed, trying to push back the pain that memory still invoked nearly two years after that night. "It was the first, and last, time my mother ever stood up to my father…"

He stared at her for a moment before glancing away. How was he supposed to act to that? The same way he reacted to hearing about their father? No, this was different from that. He didn't have to ask to know who murdered their beloved mother by the look and tone Nadia gave him. Even though he wasn't really sure if they ever loved their mother, Nadia's pause and tone said it all for him.

She looked at him, averting her eyes so that she was only looking at his face. It was hard for both her and Galen to speak of their mother without feeling great pangs of pain shooting to their hearts. Suddenly aware of her own nudity and fighting the urge to blush and flee, she asked, "Are you going to leave soon?" The redhead kept her eyes on his face, not wanting her eyes accidentally to wander where they should not. Who knew what thoughts that may put in his dirty mind? As far as she was concerned, in this case, looking was anything but harmless.

It didn't escape Drake's notice that she wouldn't look at him, at least not directly. Drake titled his head and smirked. "Leave? Never."

Nadia almost growled, almost, took her hand off the knife handle she now had her fingers on, then picked up her own clothes and headed to the bathroom.

The vampire watched her head for the bathroom, all amusement gone from his face. He was quickly getting annoying at her insistence of running away from him. That didn't sit well with him and his anger made that quite obvious.

For her part, the redhead swallowed trying not to make it obvious the she was rolling away as fast as she could. She only hoped that she could make it to that door before he decided to get up.

His eyes flashed with great annoyance as he suddenly sat up, looking exactly as though they were twin windows into the depths of hell. The vampire lord was furious that she was trying to get away from him, to escape him, to escape the memory of bedding with him. He noticed that she still wouldn't say his name, other than last night in a surprising fit of passion. He wanted to remind her that he now owned her, whether she was willing to accept that or not.

Her fingers curled around the bathroom doorknob, her heartbeat slowing since she had reached the door safely. Still, she threw a quick look over her shoulder just to be sure. Seeing the anger in his eyes, her throat closed and the young redhead all but yanked the door open in her haste to put some distance between them. She had no wish to know what he was thinking at that moment.

Quickly getting up from the bed, he walked over to the bathroom door in a quick stride, not bothering to wrap a blanket around his waist. He grabbed the handle before she could close it. He smirked, his fangs clearly visible. "Trying to run from me are you?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

Nadia's cheeks flamed hotly, her eyes growing very wide before quickly averting them. She couldn't hear herself think over the sudden pounding of her racing heart. "Why would you care?" She asked around the tightness of her throat. "I am going to get dressed." The redhead swallowed again as she backed up and tried to shut the door.

Drake had never seen Nadia turn such a shade of red as she was now and found it rather amusing. The pounding of her heart was loud in his ears and he found that it was exciting to him. That told him that she remembered every detail of what happened last night despite her pretending otherwise. However, his irritation had grown because she was trying to act authoritative when she was at a great disadvantage. He pulled the door open a little wider, his eyes never leaving hers. Drake leaned down slightly, reaching out and brushing his fingertips along her collarbone. His other hand released the doorknob and trailed down her arm that remained outstretched as she maintained her hold on the knob. "Why I care is really only something I need to know, sweetheart," he said lowly. "Get dressed? You can't be serious."

Her knuckles turned white as the redhead tightened her hold on the doorknob, her eyes continuing to look at anything save the nude man standing before her. Nadia couldn't help but almost jump out her own skin at his touch and cursed herself for it. She struggled for control of herself before she could finally manage to speak. "Don't call me that for the hundredth time, and while we're at it, quit touching me! Yes, I'm getting dressed; I'm not going to roll though my own home as naked as a jaybird. Besides, I have work I have to do today."

He noticed her jump and smirked slightly. The reaction amused him greatly for some reason. His irritation turned to anger as she tried to tell him what to do again and the fact she wouldn't even look at him. "All I hear coming from your pretty lips are demands, which I will not follow, you know that better than anyone." he stated lowly, keeping his hands where they were.

"Ugh!" This sound was Nadia's disgusted answer, finally letting go of the death grip she had on the doorknob, only to back up her chair and preparing to slam the door in the arrogant male's face.

Drake growled deeply with anger, putting his hand on the door to stop it from slamming in his face. His other hand grabbed one of hers and held it tightly enough to leave a bruise. "You are not going to slam this door in my face princess." He said with an oddly calm voice, and then he added: "Unless, of course, you want me to break the door down for you." His aggravation was winning out over all his other emotions. He also took note that she could be quite cold when she was pissed off.

Goosebumps, both from the cold of the room as well as from the ice in her soul, stood out on her pale flesh. "If you let me take a shower and get dressed in private, I wouldn't have to shut the door in your face." She replied, trying not to shiver.

He smirked, raising an eyebrow. "You're cold," he stated lowly, "but you don't need to leave me to get warm." He stared at her, his smirk turning into a slight smug smile.

"Lecher..." She growled, trying to shut the door again.

The vampire chuckled, "Right you are. My, my, you are a smart one." He bent down and yanked her roughly from her chair. Ignoring the clothes that fell off her lap and onto the floor at his feet, he hauled her up so that she was leaning against him. He ran a hand up her back, running his nails along her spine. "Because I thought I made it quite obvious to you what I would do." He whispered beside her ear, letting his hot breath penetrate on her ear. The hand that had trailed up her back was now grabbing the back of her neck in a light intimate grip, while his other hand went around her waist.

Nadia had to bite back a yelp when she felt his nails trace the skin on her spine, and she put her hands on his shoulders to put some distance between them. "I can handle myself thank you." She answered though clenched teeth.

Instead of letting her have her space, the dragon lord only pulled her closer still, not giving her the opportunity to get away. The fact that she was trying to push him away only fueled his flame of his anger, an anger that was quickly escalating to a murderous rage. "You are beautiful and you should be grateful for my attentions," He growled lowly in her ear. "I'm not a beast like your father, princess."

The redhead's heart felt like it was trying to hammer right out of her chest. "That's a matter of personal opinion. Now put me down." She said, trying to break his hold of her head. "Your mouth is way too close to my ear, and you are holding me too tight."

He squeezed her tightly and kissed her ear lightly. "Your opinion does not matter to me," he growled, knowing that it wasn't completely true. Then he smirked, making his way back to the bed and dropping her back on it.

Her body bounced lightly, but her hand was already under the pillows, searching for the knife she kept there out of habit. "When I said 'put me down' I meant 'put me back in my wheelchair.'"

"Well, you should have been more specific earlier, sweetheart." He purred, leaning down. Seeing her hand move, his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist tightly. "That wouldn't be wise."

Nadia's mouth tightened in pain, but other than that, she showed no reaction to the pain of his grip. "I would have thought that what I wanted was obvious."

Drake growled, glaring down at her. He had taken her to bed and yet she was still defying him. It didn't do well to sate his anger. She could very well be carrying his child, and yet here she was, trying to get rid of him.

Carefully, Nadia moved her wrist, trying to free herself from his grip. "Let go of my wrist."

He ignored her and grabbed her other wrist. He squeezed tightly, trying to get her to stop struggling. "You know the answer to that."

"Ouch! Let go Damnit!"

"Why ask questions when you ready know the answers? You keep struggling and I'll keep squeezing harder."

Grinding her teeth, she relaxed, but tensed her legs up.

He climbed onto the bed next to her and released her wrists, shifting slightly to hold her instead. He enjoyed the smell of sex that lingered in the bed after last night. The fact that she still had his scent on her only made his enjoyment increase. He smirked with satisfaction.

The redhead stiffened and moved her lower body away from him, at the same time trying to keep her back away from his touch.

Drake snarled, tightening his grip and pulling her back against him. "I'm not the beast that scarred your body. You'd do well to remember that."

She glared at him, but knew better then to move.

He leaned in and kissed her quickly. "You belong to me now, princess," he purred, smirking slightly. Then he thought for a moment before asking her a question. "Why are you being so stubborn?"

"Just because you bedded me does not make you my husband. If you don't work for it, you will not value it. Besides, you should marry Danica, not me."

The vampire lord growled deep in his chest, and his blood-red ruby eyes flashed at the mention of Danica. "She is not good enough. You, on the other hand, are."

"She is a pure blood vampire, and I'm only a human, a lowly crippled human at that." She retorted.

Drake growled even deeper this time, shifting to pin her body to the soft mattress. That comment did nothing to soothe his anger. He stared done at her for a brief moment. "I can change that if I want to," he said quietly, his voice deadly calm.

Nadia tried to move out of his grip, wincing in pain. "No you wouldn't."

He rested his forehead against hers and pressed himself against the body underneath him. "I could and I would if I really wanted to, hon."

Her heart froze in her chest, unable to think or breath, it felt has though she was drowning in his burning ruby eyes.

Chuckling quietly, Drake shifted slightly on top of her. "I always get my way, sweetheart," he murmured, smiling slightly.

"And just what were you planning?" She asked, finding her voice again.

He leaned down and kissed her quickly. "You are not the only one with secrets, Nadia." He said with a smirk.

Nadia turned her face away from him. "Maybe not, but I have a reason for the secrets I keep."

Drake turned her face back toward his and kissed her slowly. He shifted slightly to wrap his arms around her and pull her against impossibly closer. "You insult me, my dear," he said, chuckling quietly. "By trying to turn your brother back into a human, when he's already been gifted with the greatest gift of all."

Her eyes turned cold, even emotionless as she tried to push him away. "Not everyone is meant to be a vampire."

Snarling now, Drake felt insulted in a way by her words. "Who are you to try and change what had happened in the past? What has happened has happened. He is a vampire, learn to accept it." He hissed.

"I will not accept my brother's suffering if there is a chance that the taint that bastard parent laid on my brother can be lifted. Your opinion means nothing to us." She shot back hotly, hitting his branded chest to make him release her, ignoring the pain that shot up her left fist.

He released her, leaning back slightly, then grabbed her wrist and squeezed it. His dark burning eyes burned with such a fury that could not be described or rivaled. "You shouldn't hit me, love."

"You started it." She replied, wincing and trying to free her wrist. "And stop calling me by endearments that we both know you don't mean."

Drake tilted his head, surprised that she could think that he wasn't being serious. He of all vampires would never bother saying anything that he didn't mean. He raised an eyebrow, his grip on her wrist loosening. "Do you really think I would call you such things if I didn't mean them?" He said, tilting his head in the other direction, eyes blazing. "Stop assuming that everything I say is a lie. Just because you think I'm dishonest, doesn't make it so."

"The only things that a vampire wants are blood and power. I've learned not to trust people with fangs." She replied in a quiet, but serious voice. "The world that you and your people want to make is one that my brother and I want no part in. All we have ever wanted was to live our lives as the people that we've always wanted to be." She sighed, turning her head to the side. "Sometimes I wonder if the nightmare that began with our birth will ever end..." The last part was said in a heartbroken whisper, not intended for his ears.

Now Drake raised his eyebrows in honest surprise. "You would be better off in my world than you would be if you all tried to do it on your own." He purred, lowering his head slightly down to hers. "Some humans can often be more relentless and evil than most vampires."

"You seem to forget that I am a human, nothing but moving cattle on two legs." Nadia replied, pushing against him to create space between them. "My brother wouldn't fit in any more than I would." Now the redhead felt secure that she was stating the facts and out of the emotional danger that Drake was trying almost desperately to pull her into.

He cocked his head to the side. "Many wouldn't fit in." He said, stretching slightly.

"My point exactly, I've got plans of my own thank you." She shot back, finally getting free of his hold and turning her back on him to sit up on the edge of the bed again.

Drake moved and sat behind the redhead. He was pissed off at her insistence on thinking being a vampire was a sin. Her attempt to get his attention off her only made his curiosity mix in with his anger.

Nadia smiled to herself and seemed to be hunting for something near the bed. "You'd better go." She said tonelessly, fighting back the fear in her voice, she really wanted to be alone to think. More importantly, she wanted to get to her cell phone to call her brother, seeing as he had never returned the night before and she was starting to get worried about him.

The vampire sneered. Leaving was something he had already made clear he wasn't going to do. "I told you already sweetheart," He hissed. "I'm not leaving." He watched her reaction with a glare in his eyes.

Since her back was to him, Nadia didn't see his glare. Finally finding her seldom- used crutches, she slipped her right arm into the holder while she used her left hand to get her glasses on, relieved when the world sprang back into proper focus. Slipping her left arm into the crutch, she stood and scissor-walked painfully to the end of the bed. Then the redhead suddenly cursed when she noticed the five heavy looking textbooks that were waiting patently on her desk. "Oh shit..."

Surprised, Drake looked at the books she eyed and cursed. Why would anyone in their right mind read that thick of a book? He didn't understand the mind of a human at all. "What are those books for?" He asked without taking his curious eyes off of them.

"Damnit! Damnit! Damnit! Galen's gonna kill me... "She looked upset. "I have to take those back today, because it's the last day for book buy back on campus. Shit! I wanted to keep those, but he said no..."

"What are they for?" Drake said again, not so patiently. Without giving her a chance to respond he got out of the bed and went over to the books and picked one up.

"Those are my school books." Nadia answered. The book Drake was holding was the lightest of the bunch titled 'Humanity across the ages, 1950's to present.'

"Humph, sounds boring. Why are you still in school when you're an adult?" Drake asked dropping the large book back onto the dresser.

Now Nadia's eyes flashed, her pride wounded. "I like school, and wanted to learn more." She said in a tight voice. "I'm working for my four year degree. If my final grades turn out as good as I hope they well, I'll be able to transfer schools to finish elsewhere as my brother and I planned."

Drake gave her a snarl at her tone of voice. "Watch how you talk to me. You don't need a pathetic school to learn more, Look," He pointed to the books on the desk. "You're basically learning everything you want to know by reading those huge books."

"The books aren't everything, they are only tools. Besides, that was just the mandatory things you had to know. The next two years are going to be when I really learn what I want to know." Her voice sounded cold, even empty now. She felt as thought he just kept insulting her. Hadn't taking her virginity been enough? Or did he just want to destroy her spirit? Unable to bear it anymore, she turned back to the bathroom door, fighting back the tears of anger and shame that were threatening to fall. She carefully knelt painfully down to retrieve her clothes before putting them slowly in the seat of her wheelchair so that she could back it up enough to get the door closed behind her.

Drake turned when he noticed Nadia fall silent and went to grab her clothes. "Why are you so silent now Nadia?" He asked lowly, almost dangerously. "Are you trying to run away from this argument?" He walked over to her, grabbed her arm tight enough so she wouldn't be able to get away, and turned her around to face him.

Swallowing, the redhead shut her eyes to hide the suspicious shine of tears in her eyes. "I told you, I have to take the books back." She said in a too-tight voice. Praying that he's get the hint and leave her alone before she lost all control.

"You could do that at anytime of the damn day." He growled. "Open your damn eyes and look at me when I talk to you."

"What would you know?!" She demanded in a rage, opening her eyes, hoping the anger in them would hide her tears.

Drake's jaw tightened when she yelled. "I know a great many things." He growled and tightened his grip on her arm.

"I will do as I see fit to do. For your information, I'm going to be able to get my grades while I'm there taking my books back. Considering how much they cost, I would like to get at least a little of the money back." She snapped. All the while, she was grateful for the anger. Anger was good. Maybe if she grew angry enough, she wouldn't disgrace herself by crying in front of her rapist.

"Humans are rip offs, good luck getting something back for those, sweetheart." Drake threw her back on the bed. "Not just yet, little girl."

She cried out in pain when she landed back on the bed, feeling the holders dig into her arms as the crutches themselves hit her sides sharply.

"Why the hell didn't you let them go?" Drake demanded, taking them away and glancing at her sides.

"Because, if you had bothered to look, you would have seen that they were attached to my arms." Nadia retorted, slowly breathing past the pain and starting to sit up.

"Usually crutches aren't attached to the person." Drake hissed as he spoke. "Obviously you need them."

"Gee really? No shit." She snapped. Nadia was too angry to care about what Drake might do as she moved to sit upright again on the side of the bed.

Drake threw the crutches on the ground and climbed on the bed, dragging Nadia towards him.

Nadia ground her teeth, not wanting him to know that he was hurting her as she tried to kick him.

He chuckled. "You cannot hurt me with your weak kicks my dear."

"Well excuse me! I'm not fond of being raped." She snarled in reply.

Drake's gaze became deadly. He yanked her closer to his body. "Rape," He hissed softly in her ear, "is when someone takes you unwillingly; you my Nadia were very willing." His eyes narrowed in anger.

"Funny, I remember saying 'no' several times." She growled, wishing she could get to her knife. "If a woman says no, even once, it is rape. And that is the law!" The redhead snapped, trying to twist her bruised body away from his.

"Perhaps it was at first, but you were all willing and eager once you got used to my touch." Drake replied, letting his eyes trail over her naked body.

She snorted in contempt. "You must have been daydreaming."

Drake chuckled. "No my dear I remember very clear how badly you wanted it."

Nadia didn't bother to dignify this with an answer. Emotionally, she pulled into herself, and her eyes grew colder as her lips pressed together.

"You must remember now, don't you my sweet?" His eyes reflected no warmth, not even attempting to warm Nadia's up.

"No I don't. I figured once you were done that that would be the end of it. Besides, you had the advantage." She snapped, trying to roll away from him.

Drake kept her there and sat on her stomach, not wanting to let her get away. "It's not over until I say it's over princess." His eyes filled with amusement as he trailed a finger down her cheek.

The redhead flinched, and shut her eyes. 'Goddess, give me strength…' She prayed silently.

"Open your eyes my sweet." He said leaning down, making sure his lips were hovering just above hers.

"I don't want to watch you do it again."

His eyes turned cold. "Don't be a fool Nadia."

"It's not being a fool, it's being honest. Last night was bad enough thank you." She replied, turning her head away and trying to ignore the pain she was in.

He growled and grabbed her jaw, forcing her to look at him. "You will regret those words."

Only now did Nadia open her eyes, she also jerked both knees upwards.

Drake's eyes widened in shock and loosened his grip. He lost his balance and had to put both hands behind him to steady himself.

When she wanted to, Nadia found that she could really move if the occasion called for it. She quickly took advantage of the momentary weakness by pushing him off her and rolling over to look for her crutches.

Drake almost gasped as he fell off the bed. The damn witch had more strength then he gave her credit for. When he landed, he growled. His eyes weren't the friendliest to look at when he was pissed like this. He shot back up and spotted Nadia searching for her crutches on floor beside the bed. He grabbed her neck and lifted her off the bed. "You made a terrible mistake Nadia. Mistakes must be corrected." He sounded almost mechanical. He threw her on the bed, straddled her waist, and pinned her hands above her head.

For an answer, she jerked her knees up again and locked her legs together.

He leaned forward, adding more pressure to her hands. "That won't work again puppet."

She ground her teeth, refusing to admit the pain. The redhead felt grateful that, unless he broke her legs, he wouldn't be able to separate them.

A loud rumble sounded in his chest. "Unlock them, now."

"I can't." She growled

"Liar." He ground out.

"No lie, it's a muscle reflex." Nadia sounded proud. "The only reason you got anything last night was because you took me by surprise before my body could react."

Drake narrowed his eyes. "Then when you were relaxed, why didn't your reflexes work?"

"I was halfway asleep asshole. By the time body caught up to my brain, there was nothing I could do!" She snapped, hating to admit that.

"Don't try to kid yourself. You wanted it just as Danica wants your brother. You'd better hope she hasn't gotten her hands on him."

"My brother would die before letting that happen. Our mother did not sacrifice herself so that her children would become whores to people like our bastard sire!" She snarled, fighting harder now to get away.

Drake leaned in close to her mouth again. "You are most attractive when you're spiting fire." He whispered caressingly before his mouth came down on hers.

She didn't respond to his kiss, wanting only for him to go away.

Drake kissed her deeper, not caring that she didn't respond, he would make her relax through his ministrations.

"Nadia! Are you all right?" Her brother's voice sounded from somewhere in the house as a door slammed loudly.

The elder vampire's head came up. Damn Galen, he had ruined his fun. Drake cursed.

"Galen!" Nadia screamed; her voice a piercing sound that could cut the hardest of hearts "He's here!"

"WHAT!!" came the bellow of rage, followed by the sound of something being thrown and sharp booted footsteps.

Drake chuckled. He got off Nadia and stood beside the bed, waiting for Galen to arrive…

The bedroom door all but blew off its hinges with the force of the older brother's furious kick. His eyes, adjusting quickly to the darkness of his sister's bedroom, were blazing in absolute fury as he took the scene in. Galen's rarely seen fangs sharply indented his lower lip, making him look all the more deadly.

'Oh shit...' Drake thought, his eyes widening the slightest bit.


	13. Backlash of Fury

Author's note: Once again, thank you Inu-midoriko for all your help! I would also like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far! We hope that this chapter was worth the wait.

* * *

The older brother's nostrils flared as he took in the scent of blood and bruises that were radiating from his twin's scent, though he averted his eyes politely to keep from vomiting. Taking two strides into the room, his icy gaze softened slightly as he looked at his sister for a minute to reassure her before looking away again. "Go and get cleaned up sweetheart," He said in a gentle voice. "I'll be there in a minute to help you."

Nadia got her crutches and stiffly got to her feet. "Yes, twin." She said softly, keeping her head bowed to hide her tears as she slowly limped from the room, backed up her wheelchair out of the way and softly shut the bathroom door behind her.

Now Galen went even colder still. The reins were off and Galen wanted to kill. Snarling in his fury, he marched directly over to the offender. All thoughts surged into a blinding hot hatred. His fangs cut into his lower lip, but the younger vampire didn't seem to notice or care. "How dare you..." Was all he managed to choke out.

Drake froze to his spot. He noticed an odd smell radiating off Nadia's person. He frowned in confusion. What was that smell? He hadn't smelt it in centuries. As he watched the interaction with the twins he thought, what is it? He couldn't see her face, she was hiding it with her hair. His eyes suddenly widened when her realized what it was: tears. He was smelling her tears. Drake almost sighed. She wasn't lying when she said he was raping her. Damn it, he ruined his chance yet again. He watched calmly as Galen sent Nadia to the bathroom and then turned to him in total rage. Galen asked him something but Drake wasn't paying attention, perhaps not the wisest thing to do considering he was furious and on the brink of unleashing his inner vampire.

Why had Galen waited? Why had her brother waited until his torn princess was out of the room to release his anger? Suddenly it stuck him: it was his bond with Nadia that kept him from his full vampire potential. It was she who was the dominant of the two and yet she would do anything and everything for this… vampire… this creature that was just like Drake in so many ways and yet so different.

Galen punched Drake with all of strength. "Answer me you fucking son of a gutter bastard!" He snarled, being careful to keep his voice low. Blood was dripping from his clenched fist, but Galen was past the point of caring about himself.

Drake landed on the bed, his blood dripping from his nose. He'd be damned if Galen hadn't broken it. He touched his nose and cringed. It was broken. He pushed his nose back in place and finally looked at his furious fellow vampire. "What was your question?" Drake asked, sounding surprisingly calm.

"Why in the hell did you decide to take the one thing that was hers alone to give?!" He all but roared in his fury.

He had no real excuse for that except the truth. "Because I could." He held his chin up high like the vampire lord he was and stood off the bed to face Galen.

Galen snarled. "I should kill you for that... but I think Blade could do a better job at tearing you apart than I ever could." He said quietly.

Drake chuckled, this really wasn't the time to be laughing but Drake couldn't help it. "That son of a bitch, dear Galen, couldn't tear me apart and neither could you. Perhaps I'll give you the chance to scratch me up. You know, to make the game more entertaining."

Cold emerald eyes blazed in fury. "No, I'll let him do it for me. That's the least she deserves. Get out of our home. You've done enough damage here." The bitterness in his voice could have soured the sun itself.

Drake's laughter turned into a smirk. "We'll let her decide."

Galen didn't bother answering, instead he turned on his heel, opened the bathroom door. The sound of sobbing filling the room over the running water. Ignoring Drake, Galen shut the bathroom door and locked it.

Hearing those sobs, his smirk faded. He really had hurt Nadia. Her sobs filled his ears as he listened intently. He looked around the room and searched for his pants. Once he found them and put them on, he began the search for his shirt.

From the bathroom, Galen's gentle murmuring could be heard trying to console his twin.

Drake snorted, what she needed was to be left alone. She would get over it, wouldn't she? 'I mean it's not like I was unforgivably rough with her.' He thought to himself.

"Holy Shit!" Came Galen's curse. "That Bastard! It'll take a week for you to heal." Surprise and shock laced his tone. "May he join our Sire in the darkest coldest Hell!"

'Oh please, it's not that bad.' He thought to himself in contempt. In his opinion, they were overreacting. Nadia was a grown woman, not some frilly teenager.

"Shhh.. shh... Don't worry honey... If that happens, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. He won't hurt you again, you know I would protect you and any children you might have…" He said in response to something she said.

Drake's head perked up at that. He hadn't thought of her becoming pregnant. If she was to be though, Galen would not ever dare destroy them. Then again, Nadia was smaller and lighter than the average person, her becoming pregnant could hurt her and the baby.

More murmuring, then Galen said: "No honey, I wouldn't hate you if you chose not to have the child. You were forced. He's done enough to you without the stress of bearing a child of rape on top of everything else."

Drake growled. How dare she?! How dare she want to be rid of her child? It was possible she could be having one, as he didn't use protection last night. How could she get rid of a child to call hers and hers alone? The thought angered Drake. His hand clenched.

The water turned off. "Okay, I understand. Are you sure you want to take them back now?" Silence, then: "All right. Make sure you get a copy of that printout love. Don't worry, your grades will be fine. Hold on, go in the living room and I'll bring them to you."

In a rage, the dragon lord stood by the bed, waiting to see Nadia. He was beyond angry with her decision considering the future of his babies if she was to have them. That just wouldn't do, if she tried to be rid of them, if in fact she was even carrying his children, he would come for her, not even Galen could stop him.

Instead, it was Galen who came back into the room. His lips were pressed in a thin line as he marched straight for the dresser. He didn't look at Drake.

Drake snorted and let a chuckle escape. He didn't know why he found Galen's anger amusing, he just did.

Lifting the stack of books, Galen's eyes widened in surprise. "No wonder she's worried about pregnancy... I'd be worried too in her case, lifting all of these. Not to mention the size difference between them, having his child could kill her..." He muttered as he headed for the door.

Yet again, Drake had been ignored. Oh how this angered him. He betted that he wouldn't be ignored if he went to go see Nadia. No, Galen would be there in a matter of seconds to pry him away from her.

A minute or two later, the front door opened and closed, Nadia had left the house, and Galen collapsed on the couch.

Drake stayed in the room for a few moments. The smell of sex was still in the air. It must be driving Galen crazy to have to smell it as well. Drake walked from the room. There was no point in staying in the room when the entertainment had left.

Galen was sprawled out on the couch, looking exhausted and aged.

"You look like shit." Commented Drake, perhaps not the wisest decision.

"And you're surprised, why?" His voice sounded hollow.

Drake smirked. "I'm not." His answer was short and simple. He walked over to the door.

The older brother didn't get up. Galen felt like an old, old man.

"See you around Galen dear." He said and chuckled as he closed the door. It surprised him Galen did come after him and tell him to not leave his sight until Nadia got back.

Nadia felt as though she was in a disconnected fog as she made her way to the campus. She knew that she had to keep her mind busy. Galen wanted the money from the buyback, and she understood that.

Drake kept to the shadows as he made his way to one of his favorite bars. This was not going to sit with him well if he didn't down some hard liquor. Once he was there, he had to side step a man being thrown out of the bar. The heavyset, balding bartender smiled at Drake and waved. "Hey Drake."

He smiled back and held up his hand in a momentary wave. "How's business Billy?" Drake replied.

"Not bad, not bad. How you been Drake, my boy? Haven't seen ye in a while." Billy led Drake inside the bar and Drake took his usual seat in front of Billy.

"A lot's been going on."

"Having trouble with those Nightstalkers?" Asked Billy. Drake smirked, "You don't forget anything I tell you do you?"

"Not a word." Replied Billy, getting Drake's usual ready.

Drake met Billy when he first came to the town and made a special bond with the old vamp.

Thinking, Drake fell silent after a moment and seemed to be in a daze.

"How's the woman? Nadia, is it? How's she been coping lately?" Asked Billy.

Drake snorted and moved away from the table for a moment. "I thought everything was going fine Bill, I guess it wasn't." Drake said no more and downed his drink.

"I've seen her around lately; she's even been starting to ask me questions. That Lady has some Network. I don't know what she's looking for, but she looks too thin to be taking proper care of herself. It must be very important."

Drake was all ears. "Nadia? Here? What for? What kind of questions does she ask?"

"Questions about the different vampire clans, which ones would and wouldn't work with each other. That kind of thing. I had hoped that after their father died, that life would look up for the little lady and her brother." He replied as he filled another order.

"Mmm. Apparently it just got worse." Drake muttered, taking his time to drink the second one that Billy handed to him.

"I knew the bastard, didn't like him much. The boy was a prince, but the girl was nothing but his son's pet."

"That's very interesting. Tell me, what was the bastard like?" The alcohol was warming his skin and face, turning it a pinkish color.

"That depends on who you ask Drake."

"I'm asking you." Came his impatient reply.

"He was an alright guy if you were a man, treated women like shit though. Had big plans for his son, I'm not sure what he would have done about the girl though. Might have married her off to whichever lecher he was trying to curry favor with."

"I see." Drake looked into his bronze drink and watched the reflection off it.

"I gotta admit though, she was so quiet, you wouldn't have known she was there. Wouldn't meet any man's eyes and stuck as close to her brother as she could without getting kicked by their father."

"She was controlled once by a man, she won't ever let that happen again. Perhaps that's why she now takes charge, there's no man to stop her and kick her around."

"That would make sense, though I've never seen a loyal pair like those two twins. It was a mistake turning that one, it was."

Drake looked up. "You think it was a mistake? How so? So the pair are not the same creatures anymore, if his sister gets her way he will soon get his humanity back anyway, it doesn't really matter what anyone thinks anymore I guess."

"Galen, like his father before him, has a major anger problem, and becoming a vampire only made it worse. She is the only person that is able to control and calm him down. That's why she never leaves him for long. She can't."

"It all makes sense now." He muttered, as the realization struck him. That's why he made her leave his side back in their room. He wanted all his anger to unleash without her having to witness and therefore control it.

"If the people in your tower had any sense at all, they'd leave the little lady alone. There's a reason that the smart ones stay away from him, I don't think the girl's put him all back together completely yet." Billy said, pouring him another drink.

Drake frowned in confusion, swaying only a little bit from the amount of hard alcohol he had drunk. "What do you mean a reason? The only reason they stay away from him is because they fear him, fear he'll reject them." Said Drake taking a big sip and slammed his glass down.

"You never saw him when he was first turned. For six months, he was completely insane. Galen hunted vampires mostly, at least twenty vampires to every human... This from a young man who couldn't stand the sight of red meat when he was a human." Billy shuddered. "Nadia was the only one he wouldn't touch. Everybody else was fair game, God forbid she crashed at your place without him knowing about it, talk about a blood bath!"

"Galen hasn't changed that much since then if that's how he was back then." Drake wondered how Nadia coped with the fact her most trusted, most loved one had turned into the very creature she despised and distrusted.

"Oh, they've changed all right, not that most would notice unless you grew up with them. If Nadia hadn't told me their father was already dead, I wouldn't have minded taking a strip or two out of Drake Alexander Stone's hide." Billy growled back, heading from behind the bar to throw another drunken guy out his place.

"That was his name? Or are you trying to say something to me?" Drake growled. His chin came up high; the icy expression on his face demanded the respect he deserved, even if Billy was his friend.

"Only that they've had enough to deal with in their short lives. That's why they won't say your name." Billy replied over his shoulder, chucking the drunk out.

Drake narrowed his eyes. Couldn't they see that he was much different than their father? He hissed in fury. He bet that Nadia wanted nothing to do with him because of that same reason as well. This wouldn't do. His anger rose and he shattered the glass in his hand.

Looking down, he grimaced at the pain the tiny shards caused him. Now Drake understood why Nadia had been so up tight about giving into him. "Give me a cloth Billy." Said Drake in a low voice but loud enough for Billy to hear. This didn't sit well with him one bit.

Frowning, Billy wordlessly handed Drake a clean dish towel. "That's the fifth glass this week."

"My apologies." Billy almost couldn't hear the apology. Drake thought back to when Galen asked him that first three simple worded question. The heat of his anger was unbelievable, the fuel behind his question was great. Was it him Galen was talking to? Or was it his father?

Drake then set to work pulling out the shards in his hand before they infected his hand and he had to chop it off. He'd rather keep all his limbs. He didn't find limb regeneration appealing.

Sighing quietly, Billy got him another glass and filled it for him.

Meanwhile, Nadia sighed as she left the campus. She had barely gotten half the money back for her books. There was a piece of paper in her hand that she held tightly as she drove. Behind her glasses, there was a wounded animal expression in her eyes.

Drake thanked Billy and left, all the while dodging a chair coming for his head. He gave the man who threw it a death glare but let it slide. He made his way down the street.

The redhead had felt a little better after Galen had let her cry, but it didn't make it any better. At least her grades were good, maybe with distance, she could start to heal. Right now, she just wanted to get the university forms into the mail.

The vampire Daywalker stuck to the shadows as he made his way up the street. His skin warmed only a little due to the lack of shadow. He wondered what Nadia was doing, where she was. He had to shake his head to get her out of his thoughts.

Ducking into a nearby store, Nadia bought a nature bar and nibbled at it, staring into space. She just tried to eat, but could only get half the bar down. Gagging slightly, she stopped eating and took a deep breath to calm herself again.

Drake thought about where to go from here, he didn't want to go back to the tower and face Danica, who knew what he'd do to her. Instead, he headed for the docks where he had last seen Blade. Drake chuckled. To think that Galen thought the half vampire could take him down.

Blade walked the streets of the city infested with the creatures he yearned to destroy. His expression unreadable, he turned a corner and spotted Nadia coming out of a store and park by a small table. The girl seemed to be nibbling on a nature bar. He strode over.

The redhead didn't notice, she carefully put the half eaten bar on the table and tried to control her stomach. Her stomach flipped repeatedly, not happy with whatever food she had tried to eat. Nadia fought for control of herself and her emotions.

"Has something happened Nadia? You don't look like your usual alert self. You more or less look like a tragedy has recently happened." Blade's face was full of intimidation as he spoke to her.

"I'm surprised you can't smell it." She replied tightly.

"No need to be snippy Nadia. I merely asked a question." He stepped out of her way when she gave him the impression she wanted to go but he was in her way.

"The dragon got what he wanted out of me, part of it anyway." Nadia said tonelessly, her eyes expressionless behind her tinted glasses.

Blade stayed quiet for a moment. "You are now no longer untouched." He inhaled. "I wondered why you smelt odd today."

"I was raped, I think. Most of it is a blur." She replied, putting the half-eaten bar away in her bag. Shuddering as though she was cold, she didn't look at him. "He knows I'm a spy, but I don't think he got Galen's cure."

"I see. He won't get away with that. I already suspect Galen expects me to kill him. Am I right?"

"It's the only reason he's still breathing. Galen says that you'd make it hurt more." The redhead agreed quietly.

Blade almost smirked. "Yes, I would make it hurt more. As long as he breathes his foul vampire breath in this world, I will be hunting him down."

Nadia nodded, still not looking at him. "We'll be out of your way. My brother and I are moving on." She assured him.

"Will you and your brother be moving out of the country? It would be safer that way; he won't be able to follow you if he doesn't know you left the country."

"We're splitting up. Galen to Italy, I'm going to Wisconsin."

"Can the two of you handle the separation? The only families you two have ever known are each other, you both have relied on each other for so long."

"It has to happen some time. We'll still keep in touch, but it'll be an adjustment." She swallowed, not wanting to think about it right now.

Blade dropped the subject. It didn't take a mind reader to know she didn't want to think about it at the moment. She had bigger issues on her hands. "Do you think you are carrying his child?"

Nadia moaned softly. "Damnit Blade, I'm trying not to think about it. I don't want to think about anything right now..."

"That doesn't change the fact that it still happened and you might have to face it in the near future."

"I might not be able to even carry a child Blade." Nadia said sharply, her control starting to break with the strain of his questions. "It's too early to think about this, I just need to wait a month. University will be hard enough without a pregnancy."

Blade ceased asking questions. It wasn't really his place to stick his nose where it didn't belong.

Taking a deep breath, she relaxed a little. "Don't worry, I won't ask for help if it turns out I am." She informed him, thinking that he didn't want to be saddled with her problems.

Blade almost rolled his eyes. "You don't always have to act so brave."

Nadia's eyes flashed. "What do you mean? You've got better things to worry about than me. There's nothing you can do right now." Against her will, Nadia felt the tears burn in her eyes again and was grateful that her glasses hid her eyes.

"I don't recall saying I was worried about you." Blade's monotone voice was low but sharp. He knew she was about to cry. He decided that perhaps she needed all her strength and that it was best that way. They passed through an opening between two buildings, looking over the docks. Suddenly his senses were telling him that he was there. Waiting for him to arrive. Blade started at the docks for a long moment, all his movements stopped.

Finally getting herself back under control, Nadia looked at Blade. "Trouble?" She asked, inwardly cursing as it suddenly dawned on her that she _forgot_ her knives.

"Perhaps. It depends on what he wants." Blade emphasized 'he'.

The redhead cursed aloud this time. "Damnit! Not again! I'll get out of the way. Please be careful Blade." She said, backing up her wheelchair.

Blade nodded and headed for the dock. The sun was shining in his face and he was damn glad as hell he wasn't a full vampire, or else he'd be dead.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Nadia quickly grabbed her bag and hurried down the street. She wanted to get back to her brother so she could get the forms in the mail. As she left, she sent a silent prayer that Blade would be all right.

As Blade made his way to the docks, he scanned the area around him to be sure there were no traps set.

The area was unnaturally silent, the only sound was the water lapping at the docks and moored boats. It was as though time was standing still, frozen at that moment in time.

Blade became very alert once he heard Drake's disgusting chuckle coming from somewhere in the shadows. He took out his sword, getting ready to strike the bastard who took Nadia's innocence.

Drake could obviously see him, for his laughter became harder and clearer.

The Daywalker narrowed his eyes, trying to determine where his laughter was coming from. "Where are you Drake? Why hide from me, a mere Halfling?" Blade asked while turning around as he walked towards one of the boats.

Amused, Drake didn't answer for a moment. "Hide? From you? I don't think so Blade. Who sent you? Was it _her_?" Drake asked.

Blade knew exactly who 'her' was supposed to be. "No, it wasn't Nadia. You now know you've crossed the line and you're going to pay for the crime you committed and the pain you caused Nadia."

Drake came out of the shadows and stood in front of Blade. "Why do you people insist that my bedding her is a crime?"

"For a vampire lord who is supposed to be smart, you're not the brightest." Blade stated and tightened his grip on the handle of his sword.

"For a vampire hunter, you're more foolish than Galen." Drake's eyes narrowed on the sword Blade was carrying.

"No, just more determined to kill you."

The vampire burst out laughing. "And what do you plan to accomplish by using that useless weapon?"

Blade shrugged. "Hopefully take off your foul head."

Drake smirked and moved so fast Blade barely had time to move out of way when Drake's claw-like nails came up to slash his chin.

Yet Drake's amused expression never faltered, even though he had missed. "You taint my brethren and all humans alike. Why don't you just die or let me turn you into the great creature you can be?" Drake asked lowering his hands to his sides and taking a step forward.

"I've told you before, I won't repeat myself."

"Come now Blade. Let's be friends, we could help each other out."

"No." Was Blade's only answer before taking a large step, slashed at Drake then thrust his sword straight into Drake's chest, missing the heart by an inch or two.

Drake grunted. "I forgot how much that hurts."

The Daywalker turned the blade and prepared to rip it out and cut him in half, but the dragon caught his hand and held it in place. Blood rapidly spewed through Drake's shirt and slowly made it way down, about to stain the rim of his black jeans.

"Now, now Blade, we mustn't have you killing me off already." Drake said as he quickly let Blade's hand go and moved back, causing the sword to cut the air, his sword gleaming in the sunlight. Drake kneeled over and coughed up blood. Blade took the opportunity to strike again, this time aiming for his head.

The dragon lord saw this action and moved in close to his body. Drake took his wrist before Blade was able to retract it, did the same for Blade's other free hand, and slammed him against the wall, bringing Blade deeper into the shadows. "You cannot harm me with that pitiful sword."

Blade struggled to get his wrists free but ceased his attempts when he realized Drake had the upper hand now. He lifted his knee, aiming for Drake's sensitive place. Drake grunted and let his grip loosen a little. Blade took the advantage and freed his hand that didn't have the sword and punched Drake's face. Drake's body lifted off the ground and flew into a wall not to far from where he was pinning Blade.

Drake's temper flowed through his body. He got back up and swung his claw-like nails non-stop at Blade's face. The vampire hunter had to keep sidestepping to avoid the attacks. Blade tripped on an anchor. Drake smirked and slashed Blade's chest, ripping his clothes and gashing his smooth dark chest.

He grunted as he landed on the ground. Drake took him by his collar and lifted him back up. Blade took another swing at Drake but the dragon threw Blade across the docks. Digging his sword into the dock, he lifted himself up and glared at the vampire lord.

"Nadia will never be able to bare your child." Blade's voice was thick with anger.

Drake's amusement turned to dark fury. "She will have my child if she chooses to bear it."

"You will only be burdening her." Blade hissed.

The vampire lord turned his back on Blade, looked over his shoulder, and glared at him. "We will meet again, and when we do, I'll kill you."

"I'll be ready for you." Blade replied and watched Drake disappear into the shadows again.

Drake's fury was untamable as he stalked into the dark alleys. Nadia was going to bear his child whether she was capable of doing it or not. He headed in the direction he smelled Nadia's scent.

Her scent led Drake to the public library, of all places. The scent of aged paper and fading ink saturated the air inside the building, almost completely wiping out the redhead's scent.

The vampire lord still found her easily and snuck between the bookshelves, watching, observing Nadia's every move, her every breath. He contemplated how he was going to take his redhead beauty without other people noticing. He sensed a pair of eyes watching him. Drake slowly turned his head in the direction of a young man who was watching him and glared at him long and hard. The young man's eyes widened, but he didn't scream. Instead, he left in a hurry, tripping and bumping into everything in his wake. Drake turned his attention back to Nadia, smirking with satisfaction.

The redhead made her way to an empty table and moved the chair so that she could pull up in its place. Lifting the backpack onto the table, she took out a small packet of official-looking forms and pulled out a pen. With a sigh, Nadia bent her head and starting to fill it out, occasionally rifling though her bag for something or another to check out a fact before writing it down.

Drake snorted softly. Typical. If her nose wasn't in a book, it was on some sort of paper she was writing. He wondered what exactly it was she was writing and for what purpose. Perhaps it was for that... college thing she wanted to go to. His eyes darkened as he remembered why he came here and why he was spying on her. His objective was to kidnap her and take her as far away from her brother and the Daywalker as possible. Blade would never see this coming.

Nadia sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she read over what she has written so far. Tapping her pen softly against the side of her bag, the redhead pondered over the next part. She had no idea that she was being watched as she desperately tried to concentrate.

Drake smirked as he decided to see for himself exactly what she was working on that made her so completely oblivious to his presence. He snuck through the shelves of books until he got around the shelf behind her table.

The form she was concentrating so hard on was the admissions form for the University that she wanted so badly to attend. Her neat handwriting covered the page. Idly, she nibbled on the end of the pen in apparent confusion over a particular section. "Drat..." She murmured around the pen.

Though not amused, Drake continued to smirk to himself, his red haired beauty wasn't going to any University as long as he was still on this earth. It was likely she would leave to go to this University and leaving was something she wasn't going to do if he had his way.

Frowning to herself, the young woman stopped her nibbling and once again put her pen to the form. A few minutes later, now finished, Nadia read the form one more time and smiled. "I'm finished, finally." She said quietly, looking satisfied with herself. Putting the form in the envelope, the redhead grinned.

Sneaking up from behind her, Drake snatched the envelope from her hands and decided to play dumb. "Well, well, well, what have we here?" Drake looked inside the envelope.

Quickly, Nadia grabbed it back. "My University entrance forms, thank you very much." She said quietly. She sealed the envelope and put a stamp on it.

Drake smirked at her. "Hmm, well, let's take a short walk."

"Why?" She asked, not wanting to go anywhere with him. "I have other things to do."

"It will be short, and I assure you, you won't die from taking a walk with me."

"No, you've already hurt me enough, and I need to get this in the mail if I'm going to send this in by the deadline." She replied, packing up her things quickly but neatly.

Drake's smirked faded. He grabbed her things and held them high above his head. "You were saying?"

"I said that I didn't want to go anywhere with you." She hissed. "Goddess you are brain dead!"

Angry now, he flung her things back to her, causing her to grab them out of reflex and grabbed her by her wrist. "I was trying to be nice." He hissed back and made her back up her wheelchair before pulling her out of the building.

Gritting her teeth, Nadia had no choice but to follow behind him. Still, she attempted to go in the direction of the post office instead of wherever it was that he wanted to take her. "Let go." She growled.

"My deepest apologies my dear," he paused a moment to bow to her, mocking her in every shape and form. "but you will not be attending that University."

Nadia's eyes flashed. "Yes I am. I am not about to waste two years of very hard work only to quit now." The redhead replied coldly, trying to free her wrist from his painful grip.

Drake's grip only tightened. "Get used to disappointment my dear."

"Why don't you?" She snapped back in pain. "I have my own life to live now."

"Not by my watch princess." His answers were short and snappy.

The redhead stopped fighting before he broke her hand, pulling into herself to avoid any further emotional pain. In silence, she waited passively as he guided her back to the tower. Only then did she start fighting him again. "NO! Not there!"

"My dear, before we leave I need some things of my own." Drake said pulling her more roughly.

Now Nadia didn't give a damn if he broke her wrist. "What are you talking about baby-raper?!" She demanded, trying to pull away from him again.

Drake didn't answer her, he continued to steer her into the entrance of the tower. He pressed the button to open the elevator and all but dragged Nadia inside and pressed the close button.

The redhead glared at him thought her tears, finally managing to pull her wrist free and rubbing it gently with her other hand. As she watched the numbers light up, Nadia racked her brain to come up with a way to get herself out of this mess.

"Don't try anything stupid." Drake glared at her out of the corner of his eye. Once they were at the top of the tower and the doors opened, Drake got behind Nadia and pushed her chair towards his room. He didn't have to worry about Danica, the little whore of a vampire was sleeping soundly in her bed.

The redhead sped her wheelchair up a little as Nadia tried to keep distance between them to avoid his pushing on her chair. Although she was racking her brains, the redhead couldn't see any way out of this tangle. "You are wasting your time. I'm not pregnant." She hissed softly, attempting to distract him.

"It's too early to know." He hissed back. "I may be a vampire that doesn't know much about humans anymore, but I'm not completely stupid in that area." He reached over her and opened his door. Once inside, he picked her up and put her on his bed, then took the wheelchair to the other side of the room.

"You are still wasting your time." She snapped softly, managing to sit up, looking very small in the vampire lord's kingly bed. "What are you doing now?"

"Packing." Came his short, snappy reply. He mentally cringed at the tone of his voice when he gave her in answer. He didn't realize how deep in thought he was.

"Running away? Oh, how the mighty have fallen." She smirked at she mocked him, knowing she had hit his pride where it hurt the most.

Drake paused. "Running away? I think not my princess. I'm doing them a favor by leaving." Drake stayed quiet for a moment, considering his options. The damn girl had a point there. It looked every bit like he was running away and that was something he never did. "All right," He started as he turned around to face Nadia. "I'll stay to prove I'm not running away."

The redhead didn't bother to hide her scorn, she just looked away from him pointedly. Her silence spoke louder than words what she thought of him. At least she had a chance at being rescued now… she hoped.

He laughed, amused by her silence treatment. "Come now Nadia, don't be like that."

For an answer, Nadia curled up into a ball. 'Soon.' She thought. 'I've bought myself some time... I just have to wait for help to come now.' This was cold comfort, but it was better than nothing at all.

Drake left the room after locking her wheelchair in the closet by his bathroom. How dare she challenge his pride! He barged in Danica's room, interrupting her current affair with Asher. "Don't speak." He hissed and both remained silent. "I want you to go shopping for food, I don't care if you get burned, just go or I'll make sure you regret your treachery."

Danica nodded, anger evident in her eyes, she ripped the blanket off her and Asher and pushed him off her. Drake left, closing the door behind him.

"There's already food in the fridge." Asher replied, though he obediently unwound himself from his sister.

Drake paused outside the door. "I said I want more." He hissed.

Growling, Asher motioned for Danica to stay where she was as he dressed. He was going to send a familiar to do it.

Drake got angry when he heard no movement. "You dare challenge my authority?"

"Give me a minute." Asher called back.

Drake stayed silent, trying to calm himself down before ripped open the door and took Asher's head off.

A minute or two later, Asher came out of the room, fully dressed, his expression carefully blank as he waited for orders.

"I want you to go to the store and buy food. Try not to die." He said coldly and headed back to his room.

"What kind of food?" Asher asked, surprised by the request.

"The kind humans eat."

Asher managed not to curse, though it was an effort, realizing that further questioning was useless Asher went downstairs.

The redhead hadn't appeared to have moved from where she was curled in a ball.

He smirked as he smelt her fear. He wondered how long it would take Blade to realize his little Nadia was missing. It would take Galen no more than a few hours, possibly less.

"I'm not pregnant." She repeated. "Even if I was, I couldn't carry it to term."

"Oh, baby," Drake pouted as he laid beside her. "Once the Halfling is dead, you will change your mind."

Nadia stiffened. "It's my body."

"You're body belongs to me." He stated and took a curl into his hand.

"No it doesn't." she snapped, pulling away from him as far as she could without falling off the bed.

"I took you and therefore marked you as mine." If Nadia was smart she'd stop fighting him and just submit, but he knew that's not how this was going to work. Nadia was smart, very smart and that's why this was such a hard challenge.

"You took a membrane from me, that's all." Came the curt answer.

"You are such a complicated woman." Drake reached out to pull her closer to him.

"No, I'm not. I don't like you, I made that perfectly clear from the beginning." She answered, flinching away from his touch.

Drake grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, ignoring the thought of him hurting her. "That may be true my dear, but do you really think I care whether or not you tried to make your dislike for me clear or not?"

"I would think that you would prefer a willing partner to an unwilling one." She snapped back, trying to push herself away from him.

He held onto to her tighter, refusing to let her go. "Courting you is more interesting than a willing partner. Yes this has some downsides, but you challenge me and that is something no woman has ever dared to do."

"You aren't courting me." The redhead corrected him curtly, trying to get a knee in.

"Not at the moment, but I will and you will submit to me."

"No. I. Won't!" She replied, finally able to jerk her knee up again.

Drake slapped her knee back down and hovered over her in a heartbeat. "Don't think I won't take you again if I have to."

Nadia glared at him, biting her lower lip in vexation. The redhead didn't think that would backfire so fast, and was wondering what to do now.

Drake smirked. "What's the matter princess? Run out of things to say?"

Her blue eyes blazed in hatred. She didn't bother answering him.

His smirk never faltered. "How long do you think it will take your dear brother to comprehend that you are missing?"

"An hour, if not less." She spat out, trying to get out from under him now.

Drake's expression remained the same. "Let's hope he bring our favorite halfling." The dragon lord said this sarcastically.

Nadia swore. "You better hope not if you want to live."

"It shall be he to die by my hand." Drake's smirked faltered to a slight smile.

"I doubt that. You'll die, along with the rest of your kind."

"Hmm," Drake smiled wider. "You are insulting Blade's other half, do you think he will appreciate that?""

"He won't die. He's more human than you'll ever be."

Drake laughed. "Yes Nadia, that's exactly why he will die. He is a taint, a mistake. He is not fully immortal."

The redhead looked away, grinding her teeth to keep her thoughts inside.

He knew she wanted to curse, to shout and scream at him. Wanted to say what was on her mind. He bent down to her ear. "Spill it to me Nadia, say what you think of me. Say what you'd rather be doing then be under my weight at this very moment."

"It won't help anything, so why bother?" She snapped, not wanting to waste her breath speaking to him.

Drake took her chin and planted a forceful kiss onto her small soft lips.

Nadia tried to turn her head away to avoid his kisses.

The vampire's Dragon laughed and coiled around her to hold her closer to him, fully determined to stay this way until nightfall when he would attack the Nightstalkers, the ones who wanted him out of this world. He'd attack them on their own ground, something they wouldn't see coming.


	14. The Final Battle Between Daywalkers

Author's note: Once again, thank you Inu-midoriko for all your help! I would also like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far! We hope that this chapter was worth the wait.

* * *

Later that night, blood dripped off his hands as he carried King over one shoulder and Zoë on the other. He stuck close to the walls of the streets, not wanting to be seen by passersby. He couldn't get Nadia out of his mind. Damn her! He sneered and kicked the wall he was currently walking alongside. She just had to go and make things more complicated for him didn't she? The dragon lord growled. Well damn her, because after tonight, he wouldn't need her anymore.

He grinned, after tonight, after he killed Blade, all the Nightstalkers with him, there would be nothing standing in his way of the blood sacrifice ceremony he was holding…, and his guest star was indeed his little hell fire, Nadia. Although he had feelings for the redhead, he was growing quite tired of her continued refusals. To that end, he was planning to reawake his lover from centuries ago and he was going to use Nadia's blood to do it. He'd kill Galen if he had to, to ensure nothing and no one stood in his way. If Nadia didn't want to be his queen, then he'd make his own and there was nothing that was going to change his mind.

Drake stormed back to the tower. Once he was inside, Danica and Asher greeted him. "Take this one. The kid comes with me." Danica nodded and grabbed King by his hair as Asher took the rest of his body.

Once they were gone, he made his way up the stairs to his room and kicked the door open. He glanced at Nadia for a mere few seconds and then took the still unconscious Zoë to the cupboard to grab a chain and put it around her foot. He then took her to a poll in the middle of his room and wrapped the chain securely around it.

When Nadia saw exactly who Drake had brought in, not to mention that his mouth and chin were covered in blood, her face paled alarmingly and she swallowed hard. The redhead had no doubt in her mind that some of her friends had just died tonight. Taking a deep breath, she carefully wiggled off the bed, ignoring the pain in her legs. Once she had dropped to the floor she half crawled, half dragged herself over to Zoë. Her pale face made her eyes look more vulnerable as she carefully checked over the child. Even if she had wanted to, she couldn't have spoken to Drake.

"Relax, she's fine. I didn't bite her. After all, what fun would I have if I drained the precious bait?" Drake growled and then grinned. "Her mother wasn't so lucky."

The look she shot him would have killed a lesser man on the spot, but she didn't bother saying anything. However, her heart was pounding in her chest.

"You wouldn't believe where her mother sent her to hide. It was the most ridiculous place I've ever seen." he chuckled to himself. "The vents." yes, he enjoyed watching Nadia send him death glares and writhe under his descriptions.

Nadia's eyes darkened in utter hatred, and she bit her lip very hard, ignoring the blood that beaded on her lower lip. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she closed them for a little to regain control of herself once again. "Bastard." This tight whisper finally emerged from her lips.

"Yes, I do believe I am. Too bad you won't be here much longer to make any more insults."

She laughed harshly. "I told you it wouldn't last, I'm just grateful that I'm not gonna bare your children."

Drake grinned. "I thought you might think that way, which is why I will be shedding your blood and reviving my love, Akasha with it. She will bear my children with traces of your blood in them."

"She won't be happy about that. I know I wouldn't be in her place. Why don't you just make it easier on yourself and use Danica's blood? At least then they'll be good looking." She snapped, not looking at him as she spoke.

"You're wrong Nadia. As long as she can come back, she won't care whose blood it is. You do not know Akasha like I."

The redhead shook her head. "Funny thing about payback is that it's a real whopper. Use someone who at the very least desires you." Touching Zoë's cheek, she moved toward the closet that held her wheelchair, trying not to puke.

Drake grinned. "Your blood is exactly what Akasha would want." without another word he walked over to the now stirring Zoe. "Hello little girl."

"Why?" Nadia asked, turning her body around and putting herself between Zoë and Drake. "Why did you bother with me in the first place? Danica is more of what you want then me."

Drake sneered. "I need pure blood and you just so happen to be pure."

This backward comment made the redhead snort, however she didn't move from her protective position in front of Zoë. "Pure? After what you did to me, I doubt that." Even as she knelt helpless on the floor, Nadia still stood her own ground.

Drake smirked. "That kind of pure isn't what I meant. You have not been tainted with vampire blood such as Danica." his smirk broadened. "And as I recall, you did nothing to try and stop me."

"You ambushed me, I was nearly completely asleep." She shot back. "Besides, from the sound of it, you got exactly what you wanted." Nadia's eyes all but glowed in her anger, trying NOT to remember what had happened that stormy night.

Drake smiled. "Well my dear, you won't have to worry much longer. Soon, after I kill Blade, the ritual will be nearly complete and you will be sacrificed."

She laughed, but there was no humor in it. "You are a coward to the last. Why don't you go back to Danica, I hear her calling for you."

Drake's eyes darkened. He walked over to Nadia and cast her aside. He took Zoë, who was now conscious and headed for the door.

Only when Drake left did Nadia's strength give out, and her face hit the floor. She'd only started getting her balance back when Drake returned.

Drake walked in without Zoë in his arms. "Hello my princess." He walked over to Nadia and knelt down as he kissed her forcefully on the mouth. "Don't worry, you're little Zoë is safe in another room."

Nadia tasted the blood on his mouth, and paled even more. She was grateful that she was already on the floor. "Why do you call me that?" She asked, trying not to puke.

"Because I want to." he then went to his bed and retrieved his weapons. "I'll be back for you my dear." he then left without another word.

The redhead smiled to herself. "He forgot his armor. The dragon's gonna die." She said, amused even as she scrubbed the blood off her mouth.

Drake then barged back in. He picked Nadia up off the floor, put her back on his bed and kissed her once more. "Mmm, that tastes good on you." He then pulled back and shrugged into his armor. "You enjoy my attentions don't you? Tell me you enjoy it and I'll let you live and have you instead of Akasha."

"I'll admit you are a good kisser." She said grudgingly, shaking her head to clear it. This was the truth, but she hadn't liked admitting it. The redhead devoutly hoped more than anything else that Blade would come though, but if not, someone had to continue the fight if he failed. Nadia was the first to admit that she wasn't a fighter, but she had her brother to think about. When it came right down to it, Akasha sounded worse than Drake; how could she not, when you considered that Drake was all but crawling back to her. Swallowing the urge to get sick again, she wiped the blood away with a hand that shook as she watched the vampire lord.

Drake smirked. "I knew you wouldn't be able to deny that." He walked a little closer, his eyes burning with pleasure and triumph. "What else do you like?" The question was spoken softly, almost lovingly as he tried to coax more information from her.

Nadia narrowed her eyes. "Your head is swelling, or is that your horns popping out? I can't tell."

Drake glared at her. "Too bad you won't have time to polish up on your humor."

"It keeps you from exploding with self-importance. You should be grateful." She replied, trying to remain calm and hoping her heart wouldn't explode in panic.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You're just too funny."

She swallowed, wishing he would leave. Nadia was trying to buy Blade as much time as possible to arrive.

Drake grinned slyly and fisted his hand in her flame colored hair. "If there were time left, I'd make you prove what you just said. As it is, when I return, you may yet be crowned a queen." he then gave her one last final kiss before letting her go roughly and leaving the room.

Galen moved fast though the streets still a vampire. Moving towards the docks, his undead heart pounding hard as he hoped Blade was still there.

The dark skinned man sat casually in one of his chairs, going through his weapons, making sure they were all in tact and ready to kill Vampire Lord's ass.

"Blade!" the elder redhead called raging tension ringing in his voice.

Blade, recognizing the voice, didn't turn around. "What?" he called.

"He's got Nadia."

Blade frowned. "Drake has Nadia?"

"Yeah. She never came home, and she's not answering her cell phone." Galen's fangs kept sliding in and out of his mouth.

Blade frowned harder. "Damn it." he cursed. "Come on, we leave now." Raising his voice, he called to Abby, who was nearby. "Whistler! We're leaving! Drake's got Nadia!"

Abby let loose a nasty word. "I've got the Daystar, let's go."

"I'll meet you there." Galen answered, slipping into the shadows.

Blade nodded and rushed out with Abby close on his heels.

One there, Galen went inside. Ignoring the chaos going on behind him, he bolted up the stairs. He had to get his 'Dia out of here before Daystar went off, almost running into the armored Drake, who'd been heading towards the meeting room to confront Blade.

Drake grinned at Galen as he made his way up the stairs. "Evening Galen. I hope you're having a fun time." he reached for his sword.

"I will later, once you are dead." Galen said in a low angry voice, hatred burning in his emerald depths.

Drake pouted. "Aw Galen, you should know by now that I can't die. And I won't be killed by a Halfling such as Blade."

"Maybe, maybe not." He snapped back, his nostrils flaring as he looked for his sister's scent.

"Nadia's been having a great time. We shared a passionate kiss before I departed from her small frame. It seems she's going miss me inserted in her while I'm gone for a while."

"Somehow I doubt that. She's very good at self-preservation." Her older brother said coldly.

Drake smirked. "I dunno, she was pretty open for me the night I visited her."

Galen growled. "You raped her, not loved her. I've known her a lot longer than you have."

"I never raped her, my dear Galen." he took a step closer to the red haired man. "She never resisted."

"If a woman says no, it's rape." Galen answered

"Until she becomes putty in your arms and she encourages everything you do with small sweet moans." he chuckled. "But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you? You've never experienced the warmth of a woman under your body."

"I've never wanted one." He snapped. "My twin is more enough company for me and I for her." With that, he made as though to continue his way up the stairs.

"Suit yourself Galen." he then made his way towards Blade's scent.

Galen's feet pounded his feet up the stairs, ignoring the fighting and screaming below.

Blade walked into the dimly lit room with an unreadable expression on his face. As he came further into the room, he could make out Drake's silhouette behind a long brown table lined with chairs on either side. As he stepped in further, he could make out Drake's form. The armor he was wearing, which was probably unnecessarily heavy and the smug smirk upon his face.

"Blade." he said his name calmly, as if he would be the one to come out of this battle alive. "Ready to die?"

Blade merely took out his sword, ignoring his comment, and cracked his neck side to side. "I was born ready mother fucker." he hissed, indicating he was in no mood for games.

"Mother fucker…" Drake let the words sink in before grinning just a bit wider. "I like that." the vampire lord stood onto the table and dashed across it, screaming out his battle cry as he swung his sword at Blade.

Blade in turn, deflected the attack and took a step further away from the madly grinning vampire. He took off his jacket and let it fall to the floor.

The battle began.

Meanwhile, Galen bounded up the stairs and burst into Drake's bedroom, making a beeline for his little sister. "Nadia are you hurt? Where's your chair? We've got to get out of here before the fireworks go off, or you'll be out one big brother honey."

"My chair's in the closet, I think. He might have locked the door though." Sitting up as fast as she could. "Why in the underworld didn't you take the cure that I left in your room?" The younger redhead demanded of her older brother, suddenly irate with Galen in spite of the current circumstances.

Looking over his shoulder, Galen couldn't help but grin at his twin as he twisted off the closet door and got her power chair out into the room. "Don't worry about it honey, I'll take it as soon as this is all over. Let's get you outta here first." He said walking over to the bed and picking her up, he shifted her for a minute of cuddling before dropping her in her wheelchair.

Nadia smiled back and joined her brother in the mad dashing for the exit; both of them ignored the screaming and dying going on around them as they made their way towards the nearest elevator, hoping desperately that they were still running…

Blade and Drake swung their swords at the same time, causing their blades to stop each other's attack in mid air. They repeated this action a few more times before Drake got tired of the constant deflecting, and swung faster, harder- advancing on Blade.

Blade made a move to pierce his heart but it was stopped by Drake's sword.

A few times, they had to resort to their fists to unlock each other from the sword-lock they put themselves in.

Drake's frustration almost reached its peek and he swung his sword down hard. If Blade hadn't moved, he'd have been sliced in two, but instead Drake sliced the railing. Noticing another failed attempt at slicing him in half, he got angry and cried out his frustration. Finally loosing his temper, Drake swung his sword uncontrollably at Blade.

The dark skinned man couldn't help but be amused at Drake's tantrum but kept his emotion hidden under a blank facade.

Pissed off, the vampire lord picked up the innocent couch sitting next to the wall and threw it at Blade, only to miss by a long shot. He flipped onto the table and landed on his feet like the graceful feline he portrayed. Noticing Blade wasn't exactly on the table with him, he jumped down and the two of them went into another swing-deflecting contest until Blade kicked Drake in the chest and made him slam into the table's edge.

Neither of the two noticed Asher on the top floor, smirking and snickering down at Blade with a gun in his hand.

Just as Asher was about to shoot Blade, Whistler's daughter shot him square in the chest and turned him to ash.

Drake almost tore through Blade's jugular a couple times but the vampire slayer was much more skilled and merely moved his head out of the way to avoid getting his head taken off.

Drake's anger rose and he swung more vigorously, once almost taking off Blade's feet. He kept on advancing on Blade, completely unaware Whistler was on the same floor Asher had been on, ready to shoot him with the only thing that could destroy him.

As the two men fought, Whistler tried to get a better view of Drake, not realizing that a certain vampire whore was watching her every move.

When she got too close to the right spot to hit Drake, however, Danica held up her machine gun and shot at her. She ran to avoid the bullets but it soon stopped when King came into the room and tackled Danica to the floor.

The two men kept fighting until Blade got frustrated and tried punching Drake's stomach. When that had no effect, Drake took his shot, and kicked Blade into the air. As retaliation, Blade kicked Drake, sending him flying through the layers of glass windows until he got to the last one, which didn't break.

Drake's vampire within him stirred, and Blade looked alarmed for just a moment until the vampire came at him again. Blade decided to go for him as well, and they both ended up grabbing each other and sending one another down to the third floor.

Blade's sword slipped from his hand, giving Drake the upper hand he needed to finish off Blade.

The dark skinned slayer, however, wasn't to be taken lightly even with no weapon, and punched Drake continuously to the face and prevented Drake from swinging his sword at him by merely ramming his triceps with his bicep. Blade then grabbed Drake and thrust them both through the glass window, down to the second floor.

Drake, now also without a weapon, took off his armor and the two men charged at one another. Drake, being the stronger of the two, sent them both to the last floor and used Blade as a pillow to help prevent the force of the impact on him but made sure Blade's back absorbed the blow.

He sat up and started changing into his true form, fed up with this game with Blade, and eager to return to the young woman he'd left upstairs.

Blade looked on in disgust before being picked up by the now transformed Drake, feeling his tongue graze against his cheek and then found himself being thrown through the air and slam into the horizontal pole connecting from one wall to the other, down to the next and then flat on his back again on the same level as Drake.

Drake walked towards Blade, causing Blade to come back to earth from the minor dizziness and stand up. He tried punching him numerous times in the gut but Drake's abs were literally like steel and nothing Blade did to them had any effect.

Drake took Blade's shoulders and head butted him, causing him to fall back down on his back.

'Damn it Whistler, hurry the fuck up!' he screamed in his mind but refused to show his lack of patience and desperation to the likes of Drake.

Speaking of the Dragon Lord, he took Blade's foot, dragged him a few feet, intending to throw him, but Blade was faster and got out of his grip and stood back up. This angered Drake and he walked up to Blade once again. When the Daywalker threw himself at the vampire lord, Drake moved out of the way and pushed Blade further into the air, making him, once again land flat on his back.

Drake laughed. "Give up Blade. You can't win. I have the upper hand and all you seem to be doing is laying on you back." He walked closer to Blade, who gave no answer.

Whistler lowered herself on onto a pillar and took out the arrow she had to use to destroy Drake, who picked up his sword and stood over Blade.

"Are you ready to die, mother fucker?" the vampire asked and with a look as smug as before raised his blade to strike.

Whistler was faster, however, and released her arrow but Drake's brilliant senses had caught on to what was happening behind him and as he whipped around, he stopped the arrow before it could hit him.

Drake, his attention now on Whistler, dropped the arrow in front of Blade, who saw it, picked it up, and rammed it right into his heart.

Just before the arrow pierced Drake's flesh, Nadia and Galen bolted across the causeway behind Abby Whistler. Nadia looked over her shoulder for just a second. A smile of satisfaction flickered across her lips as her blue eyes briefly met the doomed Drake's before continuing on their way.

The poison spread through him and he became weaker, so weak he had to lie down across from where Blade collapsed and the particles within him, spread throughout the sanctuary and destroyed the rest of the vampires in his home.

'Good bye Nadia, my Queen.' he said softly in his mind as he watched the only woman he loved leave him forever. In that moment, he realized he'd never intended to sacrifice her. He knew his phantom heart wouldn't let him do it. If he had had the tears to cry, he would. He'd cry out for the woman he wanted to spend eternity with, the one he wanted to bear his child. All he ever wanted from Nadia was her love. He sighed and settled for defeat, knowing no matter how hard he tried, he knew he never got it from her.

Now in his human form, sneered at the residue of the floor on his skin and wiped it off before he looked at Blade.

"Funny isn't it? All this time my people were trying to create a new kind of vampire," the look on his was no longer of smugness but of truce, acceptance to the fact he had been beat. "When one already existed." his breathing became more erratic as his time grew nearer. Blade just looked at him, listening to what he had to say. "I don't need to survive. The future of our race rests with you." He smiled at Blade but his expression soon became more serious. "You fought with honor, I respect that." Blade was thrown off by him but still kept quiet. "Allow me a parting gift, but remember this," a hint of his grin came back and his voice turned into a loud whisper. "The thirst always wins." A pained expression passed over his face and his veins became visible through his flesh as he now laid down and quietly left the world to venture into another eternal sleep.

The twins just barely made it out in time, but Galen slipped into the shadows to flee towards their home before the sun rose.

Left alone, Nadia looked back, waiting for the others. Absently resting one hand on her belly, a strange sort of peace swept over her. Whatever happened now was up to fate, she only hoped that she was up to the challenge. Seeing Abby and King come out with Zoe, she smiled and led them to their home until Blade woke up again…

* * *

End notes: That's a wrap! Thanks again to everyone that has read this fanfic. Inu-midoriko and I had a lot of fun working on this piece. We were considering writing a sequel, but decided to let our fans decide. If you would like to see a sequel then please leave a review and let us know!


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